SHENANIGANS AND SKULDUGGERY

NEW ADDRESS

2009-06-18T18:39:00.002-05:00

Witch’s Hand Seen In Coast Poverty

2009-06-18T00:03:00.000-05:00

Backward practices like witchcraft have prevented Coast province from developing economically, provincial commissioner Ernest Munyi said Wednesday. He said the negative beliefs had affected education and economic development, making the region a food deficient area with high poverty levels. According to him, more than 900,000 people in the province face starvation and hunger despite the flourishing tourism sector. Mr Munyi also described the poor infrastructure as a stumbling block to development. He said the government through the Kazi kwa Vijana programme, has allocated funds to the Coast Development Authority and the Coast Water Services Board to de-silt water pans to alleviate water shortage while boosting the purchasing power of the youth.“It is sad to note that the educational transition rate in most districts in the province is below 30 per cent, leaving the local people at a disadvantage when it comes to competing for job opportunities,” Mr Munyi said in a speech read on his behalf by his deputy, Mr Joseph Keter, during an investment strategy meeting. The meeting was organised by Kenya Investment Authority (KenInvest) and focused on the economy and development of the province. The PC said reports of killings of elderly people suspected to be practising witchcraft sent bad signals and scared away investors. The authority’s investment promotion general manager Kennedy Manyala called for the formation of strong co-operative societies to marshal resources for development.

Multiple UFO Sightings In Northwest Missouri Spark MUFON Investigations

2009-06-14T00:03:00.000-05:00

Missouri Mutual UFO Network (MUFON) state section director Margie Kay is reporting an increase in UFO sightings reports. The following was released by Kay on June 12. A rash of UFO sightings in the greater Kansas City area have prompted investigations by Mutual UFO Network field investigators. Sightings in St. Joseph, Kansas City, Independence, Sedalia, and Warrensburg from December 31 to the present have increased in number. Some of the more spectacular sightings are as follows: Two Warrensburg women witnessed a large circular unidentified object on the evening of December 31, 2008 and the morning of January 1, 2008. Christina Cooper, a professional photographer, and her friend reported the sighting to MUFON. A third witness, who wishes to remain anonymous, and who was in a different location, spoke to the investigator by phone. The sighting occurred on the evening of December 31 at 6:30 PM and again at 12:30 and 1:30 AM on January 1. The object was circular in shape, reported to be close to the road, approximately 60 feet off the ground and had several bright white lights on it. It landed at one point on 50 Hwy.Since the unidentified object may have been in the area for several hours, it is possible that other people saw it. The locations are Hwy 13 North of Warrensburg and south of I-70, and Hwy 50 between Kansas City and Warrensburg. In March a UFO was spotted by several college professors in St. Joseph, Missouri, who viewed the object through a telescope. Two of the witnesses made drawings of the object, which were large orange fireballs in a tear-drop shape. The UFO moved away and disappeared. In late May a large oval object was spotted traveling from South to North from the UMKC campus in Kansas City, and in June a large cigar-shaped silver UFO was witnessed in Sedalia by 20 people standing in an Applebee’s parking lot. Many other sightings have been sent to the KC MUFON office, some of which were not reported to the official MUFON database. If anyone has seen UFOs in the area, Kansas City MUFON would like to be contacted at margiekay06@yahoo.com or 816-833-1602 during the day. Reports may also be made at www.mufon.com. Visit www.missourimufon.org for more information. Reports may remain anonymous if desired.

"Ghost" Seen Lurking Inside Upstate City Hall

2009-06-06T00:03:00.003-05:00

"Like I said, we really have no idea, what it could be," says Rob Colbert, a security guard at the building. It's a white blur that moves across a surveillance image of a room at the building. It will pause, then move again, then speed up from time to time. Immediately they tried to come up with explanations of what it might be. They tried closing the blinds thinking that it might be a reflection from outside. But instead of disappearing, it showed up again. In fact, with the blinds closed, it looks even clearer than before. Another explanation they considered was a bug on the lens of the surveillance camera, but even after they cleaned and sealed the camera cover, it came back. Even if it is an insect, it seems to only come around in that particular office. "I've checked the tax office, the business license, community development, even the basement," says Mark Cunningham, the building's information technology director. City employees say it doesn't cause any trouble. "If it is a ghost maybe it's Casper the friendly ghost," says Frances Parham, a city employee. They've even given it a name--Claie. Clair is short for 'Clairvoyant.'

Witch Bottle Is Uncorked To Discover Spellbinding Content

2009-06-04T00:03:00.000-05:00

Take a small heart-shaped piece of leather, a handful of iron nails, eight brass pins, a lock of hair, some nail clippings, a pinch of navel fluff and place them in a bottle. Then add a pint of urine, seal the bottle and bury it by your front door — this is the recipe for warding off a witch’s curse. An analysis of the contents of the first witch bottle to be found with its cork intact has cast light on the fear of witchcraft in the 17th century. The theory behind the witch bottle was that by placing the items and bodily fluids in a bottle, the evil spell could not only be diverted but would also rebound on the witch. The bottle, which was found at a building site in Greenwich, southeast London, in 2004, was the first of more than 200 witch bottles discovered that still had its contents intact. It was sent to Alan Massey, a retired chemistry lecturer from Loughborough, who has examined half a dozen witch bottles. Dr Massey said: “We threw every test we could devise at it.” The analysis took 12 months to complete. Before the salt glaze bottle was opened, it was X-rayed and put through a CT scanner, which showed that its contents included bent iron nails and an unidentified liquid, some of which was drawn off by inserting a syringe through the cork. Tests determined that the liquid was 300-year-old urine and traces of nicotine indicated that it had come from a smoker. The ten nail parings were examined under a microscope and were found to be those of an adult.X-rays showing contents of a witch bottleMike Pitts, editor of British Archaeology, which has published the results of Dr Massey’s analysis, said: “From their size, they probably came from a male and they were well manicured so he was from a higher social class. It is possible that we could one day identify him from DNA analysis and the location of the discovery.” The small leather heart was pierced by one of the iron nails. There were traces of sulphur, then known as brimstone, and what is thought to be navel fluff. The other objects may have had ritual significance or been associated with the person who filled the jar. Mr Pitts said: “This is a relic of early modern Britain. There is documentary evidence of how people were advised to make witch bottles but this is the first that has been subjected to rigorous scientific analysis.” during renovations, including children’s shoes and dead cats. The practice continued into the early 20th century. Witch bottles are much rarer. Dr Massey believes that the bottle he examined dates from the last quarter of the 17th century. He said: “When I first heard about witch bottles I assumed that you had to catch a witch and make her wee in it. But of course it is much easier and makes more sense to do it yourself, based on the ‘scientific theory’ behind it.” Most witch bottles are heavy stoneware wine flagons from the Rhineland known as bellarmines after the French cardinal whose face was traditionally embossed on the neck. When the import of bellarmines ceased glass bottles were used, although fewer have survived.

Cannibal 'Eats Cellmate'

2009-06-03T00:03:00.000-05:00

The prisoner is said to have torn open his victim’s chest and cooked the organ with onions, olive oil, salt and pepper on a stove. A cannibal prisoner killed another inmate and ate one of his lungs, prosecutors have alleged. Nicolas Cocaign, 37, is said to have torn open his victim’s chest and cooked the organ with onions, olive oil, salt and pepper on a stove.The attack happened in a jail in the French city of Rouen, where Cocaign was being held for rape. He has been moved to a psychiatric unit and will face court in Paris charged with murder and barbaric acts, for which he may get life.

Vampire Pleads Guilty To Harassing Teen

2009-06-02T00:04:00.000-05:00

A man who calls himself "The Impaler" and ran for governor under what he called the Vampires, Witches and Pagans ticket has pleaded guilty to harassment through e-mail charges. John Albert Sharkey faced harassment and coercion charges for allegedly sending harassing e-mails to a Rochester teenager in 2007. After pleading guilty Monday, Sharkey was sentenced to 90 days in prison.In August 2007, a 15-year-old girl told police she sent an e-mail message of political support to Sharkey's MySpace page and that they began dating online. She told police she tried to end it within two weeks, but the 44-year-old wouldn't leave her alone. Sharkey's attorney has said the e-mails were mutual. However, some e-mails in police reports threaten the girl's family and friends with harm, including decapitation.

I See The Ghost Of My Dear Ronnie, Says Former U.S. First Lady Nancy Reagan

2009-06-02T00:03:00.000-05:00

Ronald Reagan's widow has told how she talks to the ex-President's spirit and even sees him at night. Nancy Reagan, 87, said she still desperately misses her husband, who died five years ago this week aged 93 after a long battle with Alzheimer's disease. 'It sounds strange but... I see Ronnie,' she said. 'At night, if I wake up, I think Ronnie's there and I start to talk to him. The fact is, I do think he's there. And I see him.' Speaking at her home in Bel Air, Los Angeles, she also told Vanity Fair magazine that she longs to be reunited with her husband of 52 years in the afterlife. But she never contemplates giving up, she said, because 'Ronnie wouldn't like that'. The former First Lady admits she still struggles to cope with the loss of her long-term companion. 'I miss Ronnie a lot, an awful lot,' she admits. 'People say it gets better. No it does not.' However, she added that evangelist and one-time presidential adviser Billy Graham, now 90, once assured her that she will see Mr Reagan again after her own death. 'I said to him, "Just tell me if I’m going to be with Ronnie again. Just tell me that and I’ll be OK." He said "You are" and I said "OK".' Mrs Reagan, once nicknamed 'Dragon Lady' because of her demanding ways with staff and fierce protection of her husband, was frequently ridiculed during her White House years from 1981 to 1989 for her belief in the paranormal and reliance on astrological advice in planning the presidential diary and influencing policy.In her 1989 memoirs, she admitted that astrology became her 'crutch' after the president was shot during an assassination attempt eight years earlier and told of how she consulted the stars and planets to help plan his schedule and security arrangements. But President Barack Obama was forced to telephone her and apologise for poking fun at her beliefs when asked during a press conference last November whether he had consulted any ex-presidents for advice. 'I didn’t want to get into a Nancy Reagan thing about, you know, doing any séances,' he quipped in reply. In the Vanity Fair interview, Mrs Reagan remains tight-lipped about President Obama’s apology, revealing only that she told him when he called that 'he’d gotten me mixed up with Hillary' and that she enjoyed a separate 45-minute telephone chat with First Lady Michelle Obama. 'I was very happy to talk to her. We had a nice conversation,' she says, noting that chief among her advice to Mrs Obama was a recommendation that she should hold plenty of parties at the White House. Entertaining there is 'the easiest thing in the world,' she told Mrs Obama. 'You don’t have to do anything. Just have a good time and do a little business…that’s the way Washington works.'

104 'Satan-Woshippers' Arrested At Iranian Concert

2009-06-01T00:03:00.000-05:00

Iran has arrested more than 100 "Satan-worshippers" in a raid on a concert in the southern city of Shiraz where people were drinking alcohol and "sucking blood", a newspaper reports. "One hundred and four members of a Satan-worshipping group were arrested at a party and immoral concert in Shiraz (on Sunday)," local Revolutionary Guards chief Abbas Hamidi was quoted as saying by Jam-e Jam newspaper on Wednesday. "The session was held in a garden outside Shiraz and the Satanist ceremony was broadcast live to the world via the internet," he said, adding the arrests were made by members of the Islamist Basij militia linked to the Guards. "These people drank alcohol, hurt themselves and sucked blood," Hamidi said. "They even bow to Satan in some ceremonies." Iranian authorities sometimes link hard rock and heavy metal music and their icons with devil worship. Alcohol is banned in the Islamic republic. Jam-e Jam carried pictures of drum sets and amplifiers seized in the raid and a group of young men photographed after the arrest sitting on the floor of an official-looking building with their backs to the camera.It said some of the detainees sported tattoos and body art resembling the wings of birds and car emblems. Hamidi said Basij intelligence forces operating under the Revolutionary Guards had put "foreign-linked groups and their venues" under surveillance for a year before making Sunday's arrests. Over the past two years Iranian police and security officials have warned against the emergence of "Satanist" cults accused of corrupting the young, amid a tough nationwide crackdown on "unIslamic" attire and behaviour. In September 2008, a senior police chief said members of the so-called cults would wear "broken-cross and skeleton necklaces and rings, drink alcohol and dance in their ceremonies." "They believe they should defy religions, especially Islam, do as they want and drag the world into anarchy," deputy police chief Hossein Zolfaghari said. In 2007, police arrested 230 people in a raid on an illegal indie rock concert in a garden near Tehran and several reports branded the party-goers as Satan-worshippers.

Loch Ness Monster Caught On Sonar?

2009-05-31T00:03:00.000-05:00

Celebrity stage stars of the classic TV sitcom 'Allo 'Allo are at the centre of a Nessie mystery. And a leading Loch Ness expert is baffled by one of the most unusual sonar readings recorded on Loch Ness while the cast was on a pleasure cruise. Sonar pictures taken on the voyage revealed five unexplained images which have lead to monster speculation. The mysterious images – which appear to be 200ft apart – have now been sent for scientific analysis. The riddle began on Thursday morning when the cast of the stage adaptation of 'Allo 'Allo – including stars Jeffrey Holland and original TV series sexy favourite Vicki Michelle – were on board the Jacobite Queen taking the opportunity to visit the world famous loch whilst they were in the Highland capital for a week-long run at Eden Court Theatre. The sonar reading, which illustrates five individual characters, was recorded at precisely 11.20am between Dores village and Urquhart Castle. According to Jacobite Queen captain John Askew, it was the first time in his 15 years working on the loch that he successfully picked up images of this kind on any of the Jacobite fleet's sonar screens. The Loch Ness Project's Adrian Shine, an expert in sonar who has been studying the loch since 1973, could not explain the sighting. He said: "This has got me puzzled and has every appearance of a genuine sonar contact. A single object often appears again, as an echo.The sonar images seen by 'Allo 'Allo stars Jeffrey Holland and Vicki Michelle which have baffled a Loch Ness expert."I would like to see the boat go back to this spot and see if the same thing could be produced again. "This certainly adds to the Loch Ness mystery and will be the subject of further investigation. "I don't understand five separate images on a sonar reading. It could possibly be a string of targets anchored to the bed of the loch, but that is again not likely, as the targets are 200ft apart exactly, which is why I would like to see the boat go back to that spot. There will be an explanation for this, but at the moment I just don't have one." TV star Vicki Michelle was shocked at what she saw. She explained: "I went down to the boat's cabin and caught an arch shape on the monitor, followed by two more. The whole cast had been hoping to see something on the trip and, if it was Nessie, that positive energy probably brought her out. Or perhaps she's just a fan of the show!" She added: "In all seriousness, whether it was Nessie or not, we all definitely saw something on that monitor." Jeffrey Holland said: "We're all very intrigued by the sonar image and keenly awaiting the results of the analysis." Recorded sightings of the Loch Ness Monster go back nearly 1,500 years dating to AD565, although many photographs of the legendary Nessie taken in the past century have proved to be either hoaxes or simply optical illusions.

Witch Flies Naked 120km In A Basket To Kill?

2009-05-30T00:03:00.000-05:00

In court Regina Sveto, 21 on Friday “hissed like a snake” and “went into a trance” as Sekuru Nelson Jambaya, the vice president of the Zimbabwe National Traditional Healers Association (ZINATHA) testified leaving a packed court room shocked. All the drama took place at Court 18 at the Harare Magistrates Court where it was jammed to the rafters as court officials, magistrates and lawyers all raced there to watch proceedings in the rather unusual case. Sveto has pleaded guilty to a charge of public indecency after she was found naked outside her brother-in-law’s house in Highfield suburb just after 6AM on last Sunday. Sveto was seen by passers-by outside the house wearing “red headgear” and “some black strings around the waist”. She claimed she had “flown” from there from Murehwa, some 120km east of Harare, with her father-in-law and an aunt. Their winnowing basket aircraft taxied off from a graveyard in Zihute Village under Chief Mangwende — their mission to kill her brother-in-law. Once at the house in Highfield, she claims she balked when asked to kill her brother-in-law. Her father-in-law, named in court as Elias Zemba, and the aunt, Filda Zemba, then took off and abandoned her. Just in case she flies back. Magistrate Mishrod Guvamombe has asked for expert opinion before passing sentence. After listening to Jambaya’s evidence on Thursday, Guvamombe ordered Chief Mangwende to be summoned to give his opinion on June 4. The magistrate has also ordered that the woman be kept in custody, “just in case she flies back to Murehwa”. Jambaya said the woman’s account confirmed what traditional healers have always believed about witches and wizards. He told the court: "According to my knowledge, if the woman said she flew from Murehwa in a basket, then she is a witch. Witches do a lot of this and they are known to travel naked at night."It is also possible for witches to travel as far as South Africa during the night for the purposes of witchcraft, flying back as soon as their mission is accomplished. Some people use magic to protect their homes and families against witchcraft and in such cases, the witches and wizards become powerless and are subsequently exposed.” As Jambaya testified, Sveto “hissed like a snake”, triggering some panic at the court room. At one point, she was seen to suddenly become weak, leaning heavily against a prison guard. Then, in a sudden burst, she shouted in her native Shona: “You are liars! You are only senior in terms of your jobs but you are powerless against me. Why are you leaving criminals to roam free out there and harassing an innocent person like me? I have no case to answer, didn’t my medium brief you?” Sveto immediately collapsed and lay prostrate on the floor for several minutes before a relative revived her by placing salt into her palms. She regained consciousness some 10 minutes later, by which time the court was overflowing with curious on-lookers. Prosecutors have asked the magistrate not to impose a custodial sentence on Sveto. Prosecutor Austin Muzivi said the woman was likely to be a state witness should Elias Zemba and Filda Zemba be charged with practising witchcraft, which is a crime in Zimbabwe. A 2006 law says anyone accusing another individual of witchcraft must show proof of their allegations. The Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act 2004 says court officials can rely on expert evidence “as to whether the practice that forms the subject of a charge… is a practice that is commonly associated with witchcraft.”

Feral Girl In Siberian City Of Chita Was Brought Up By Cats And Dogs

2009-05-29T00:04:00.000-05:00

A feral girl who has spent her entire life shut up in a flat in the company of cats and dogs has been taken into care by police in Siberia. The child, 5, was unable to speak and acted like a dog when officers discovered her locked in a squalid, unheated flat in the city of Chita. “For five years, the girl was ’brought up’ by several dogs and cats and had never been outside,” police said in a statement. “The unwashed girl was dressed in filthy clothes, had the clear attributes of an animal and jumped at people.” Police said that the girl had had a lack of contact with humans, despite sharing the three-room flat with her father, grandmother, grandfather and other relatives, the Ria-Novosti news agency reported. The girl, known as Natasha, is now being monitored by psychologists in an orphanage. She has the appearance of a two-year-old, although police have established that her real age is 5. The child refuses to eat with a spoon, insisting on lapping up her food straight from the plate, and has taken on many other behaviours of the animals with which she lived, police said.“When carers leave the room, the girl jumps at the door and barks,” the police said. Her mother was taken in for questioning when she called at a police station after her daughter was taken away. Her father has not yet been found. Feral children, the stuff of folklore all over the world, usually exhibit the behaviour of the animals with whom they have had closest contact. The condition is known as the Mowgli Syndrome, after the fictional child from Rudyard Kipling’s The Jungle Book who was raised by wolves. Such children have usually built strong ties with the animals with whom they lived and find the transition to normal human contact traumatic. The girl could understand Russian but could not speak it and tried to communicate through barking instead. She was more comfortable with her animal companions than with her relatives. She is being given medical and psychiatric treatment. Police are treating the case as a criminal investigation into alleged child abuse.

Loch Ness Monster Exists - We Have Her Tooth!

2009-05-29T00:03:00.000-05:00

Early in March 2005 two American students decided to visit Loch Ness and have a look for themselves if the monster was real or not and boy did they get more than they bargained for! Hiring themselves a local fishing boat, the students ventured out onto the quiet waters and after only a few hours came across a huge mass floating on the water, getting closer they could see that it was the mangled remains of a deer. "The animal had been ripped to pieces, its hind quarters were gone, totally severed!" one of the students claimed. It was while investigating the dead deer that they saw a bony protrusion. Using a screwdriver they cracked open the animal's rib cage and discovered the protrusion was in fact a tooth! This tooth was about four inches long and very sharp. In their excitement, the students called over a local boat to show what they had found but the person turned out to a local enforcement officer of some kind (some reports have called him a local Water Bailiff others have said that he was from Fish and Game). The animal remains and the tooth were confiscated from the American students, but luckily for them they had already taken photographs of the tooth and the deer remains.On returning to America the students began to take measures in trying to retrieve the tooth. They eventually got in contact with Bill McDonald, a private investigator and Loch Ness expert. It was through Mr McDonald that the New York Times best selling author Steve Alten became involved. Mr Alten, who by sheer coincidence was writing a novel at the time called The Loch, was so impressed by the findings of the students and of Mr McDonald that he re-wrote part of his novel to incorporate their findings! After many months without the return of the tooth the students, with backing from financers convinced of their cause, have put up the sum of $100,000 for anyone who can return to them the tooth that they claim is rightfully theirs. After seeing the pictures of the tooth and the carcass, together with having read Steve Altens novel that although is fiction a lot of experts have come forward and said that the book is more accurate than many books of non fiction about Loch Ness. I have to say that I am convinced that the tooth is genuine and that whether the students get back the tooth or not it surely can only be a matter of time before the real monster in Loch Ness is exposed for all the world to see!

Pink Dolphin A Standout In Louisiana Shipping Channel

2009-05-28T00:03:00.000-05:00

What's pink, has red eyes and leaps around a Louisiana shipping channel long enough for you to believe your eyes? A rare albino bottlenose dolphin. Bottlenose dolphins are common in the lower Calcasieu Ship Channel, feeding in the deep water and riding on top of boats' waves. And when the pink one jumps amid four dark gray dolphins, it's easy to spot. The albino is just the 14th reported worldwide, and the third in the Gulf of Mexico, according to biologist Dagmar Fertl of Plano, Texas. It was first reported by Wesley Lockard of Rayville, La., as a small calf in June 2007. Lockard, 26, said he and family members were fishing when they were stunned by the sight. "Something comes up and you say, `Wow! Did I just ...?' Then he comes up again and you say, `Yeah! I just saw a pink dolphin!'" he said. Now, the mammal is as much a part of the channel south of Lake Charles as boats and fishermen. "We see him on a pretty regular basis," said Roddy Blackburn, crewman and relief captain of a boat that ferries pilots to ships. But spotting the pink one, believed to be about 2 1/2 years old, does take time. Michael Harbison, a state Department of Wildlife and Fisheries biologist, has seen it several times, but only when he wasn't looking for it. He spent two trips—one for 10 hours—trying to locate it but didn't see the dolphin.The albino is usually seen with four adults, and probably splits time between the Gulf and the lower 10 miles of the ship channel, said Harbison. Typically, dolphins surface for a second or so to breathe, then dive for up to 10 minutes, moving a half-mile or more, he said. Five days after the initial sighting was reported nearly two years ago, the dolphin was seen again. For 90 minutes, fisherman Randy Smith watched the dolphin leap alongside an adult they assumed was its mother. "It was unbelievable," said Smith, who was returning from a Gulf fishing trip with friends when he saw the dolphin. Many people refer to the dolphin as a male, though its sex is unknown. Biologist Mandy Tumlin of the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries hopes more people will report sightings and give officials as much detail as possible. But they should stay at least 50 yards away and limit themselves to a half-hour of watching to keep the animals from getting too comfortable with people and boats, she said. No specific studies are planned, but sightings will help the department track the animal. "As rare as this is, we're trying to get as much as we can (about) this one individual," she said. "We definitely want to protect it and keep it safe."

UFO Crashed Into Meteorite To Save Earth

2009-05-27T18:00:00.003-05:00

Did a UFO deliberately crash into a meteor to save Earth 100 years ago? That's what one Russian scientist is claiming. Dr. Yuri Labvin, president of the Tunguska Spatial Phenomenon Foundation, insists that an alien spacecraft sacrificed itself to prevent a gigantic meteor from slamming into the planet above Siberia on June 30, 1908. The result was was the Tunguska event, a massive blast estimated at 15 megatons that downed 80 million trees over nearly 100 square miles. Eyewitnesses reported a bright light and a huge shock wave, but the area was so sparsely populated no one was killed.Most scientists think the blast was caused by a meteorite exploding several miles above the surface. But Labvin thinks quartz slabs with strange markings found at the site are remnants of an alien control panel, which fell to the ground after the UFO slammed into the giant rock. "We don't have any technologies that can print such kind of drawings on crystals," Labvin told the Macedonian International News Agency. "We also found ferrum silicate that can not be produced anywhere, except in space."

Japan Rolls Out Scary Toilet Paper

2009-05-26T00:03:00.001-05:00

In a country where ghosts are traditionally believed to hide in the loo, a Japanese company is advertising a new literary experience — a horror story printed on toilet paper. Each roll carries several copies of a new nine-chapter novella written by Koji Suzuki, the Japanese author of the horror story “Ring,” which has been made into movies in both Japan and Hollywood.“Drop,” set in a public restroom, takes up about three feet (90 centimeters) of a roll and can be read in just a few minutes, according to the manufacturer, Hayashi Paper. The company promotes the toilet paper, which will sell for 210 yen ($2.20) a roll, as “a horror experience in the toilet.” Toilets in Japan were traditionally tucked away in a dark corner of the house due to religious beliefs. Parents would tease children that a hairy hand might pull them down into the dark pool below.

Jersey Devil Seen By Many, Reportedly Caught 100 Years Ago

2009-05-25T00:03:00.000-05:00

This weekend, as Shore-bound travelers zip through the Pine Barrens, more than few will peer into the vast repository of gargoyle-y evergreens and wonder: Is there, or was there ever, a Jersey Devil lurking in those wierdo woods? One hundred years ago, thousands of people believed. "WHAT-IS-IT VISITS ALL SOUTH JERSEY" declared the front page of The Inquirer on Jan. 21, 1909 - above a photograph of "actual proof-prints of the strange creature." "Hooflike tracks" could be seen in the snow "in practically every block in Burlington city" - including rooftops - throwing "this section into a state bordering on panic." Even dogs were scared. "Hounds put on the trail refused to follow the tracks, and, with bristling hair and the picture of terror, ran home," the article stated. Armed with shotguns, a party of young farmers near Jacksonville in Springfield Township followed the tracks for almost four miles - when they "mysteriously disappeared." The tracks, not the farmers. A Gloucester man said the creature had wings two-and-a-half-feet long, four legs, a neck like a crane, a head like a collie and a horse's face. Two Maple Shade men agreed with the doglike head, but said it had long black hair and feet and hands like a monkey. Some folks called the creature "the Flying Death." Not that any people died. Though some chickens and pets reportedly did. Then, on Jan. 22, men with nets bagged the "docile" creature not in South Jersey, but in "the wilds of Fairmount Park," according to a Jan. 23 Inquirer story. A reporter coined the term "kangowing" for the creature, saying it seemed to be a cross between a kangaroo and an Australian water bird. Soon, for 10 cents each admission, the public could see the caged "Leeds Devil . . . more fearsome than the fabled monsters of mythology!" at a museum at Ninth and Arch Streets.The front page of the Jan. 21, 1909, Inquirer featured a report on a mysterious beast that left "hoofprints" in the snow, including on rooftops, on both side of the Delaware, from Woodbury to Trenton.The "fearsome" beast, though, looked like a happy dragon in a cartoony illustration on a handbill. "Leeds Devil" was a reference to the legend that the monster was the 13th child born to Deborah Leeds in the early 1700s. Legends differ as to how humanlike the offspring was, and whether it fled into the Atlantic County woods when she died. The "capture" was later declared a hoax - a kangaroo with fake wings, according to the Philadelphia Record. But the sightings were so numerous, especially of mysterious hoofprints, that people still wonder if real creatures were afoot in late January and early Februrary of 1909. Perhaps a flock of wild fowl was forced down by a weekend snowstorm, and their tracks were altered by subsquent rain, the Jan. 21 Inquirer article theorized. An artist's rendering published in the Philadelphia Bulletin showed a winged critter with jutting jaws. Some have since seen a resemblance to a hammer-headed bat. Experts have discounted that idea, since these large fruit-eating bats live in Africa, and would have trouble surviving a South Jersey winter. Maybe the Mr. Hope behind the hoax used bats fitted with funny shoes. No one knows. Animal authorities at the time said they could think of no winged species that matched the bizarre descriptions. Great horned owls, which could attack other animals, and sandhill cranes, which have large wingspans and can make loud noises, also have been suggested over the years as possible explanations. Since 1909, sightings have been sporadic. Did "What-Is-It" disappear? Perhaps, but the legend refuses to die. As recently as two summers ago, a weird winged creature was spotted in Central Jersey, according to some accounts. So as you're driving by, keep looking. And have that cellphone camera ready.

The Candiru

2009-05-24T08:38:00.002-05:00

'Voodoo Curse' Prostitution Ring Busted In Spain

2009-05-22T00:03:00.000-05:00

Spanish police say they have detained 23 people across the country who are suspected of using voodoo curses to force Nigerian women into prostitution. The women were recruited in Nigeria with false promises of legal employment and then illegally brought to Spain where they were forced to work as prostitutes, police said in a statement. Police said the ring carried out "voodoo rituals and black magic to frighten the women and keep them always under control with the threat of 'destroying their souls' or 'making them crazy'." All the money which the women earned was kept by the ring until they had paid off the debt they incurred to make the trip to Spain, which typically amounted to 50,000 euros, police said. Police carried out searches of 10 residences as part of their operation and seized material used in voodoo rituals, computer equipment as well as several passports and other documents.They opened their investigation in February after receiving a complaint from a woman in the south-eastern city of Seville who said she had been one of the ring's victims. The women who were recruited by the ring in Nigeria were brought by bus and truck to Libya. From there they were taken to Italy by boat and brought overland to Spain. Earlier this month in the Netherlands, the trial of 11 people accused of using voodoo curses to force up to 150 Nigerian girls into prostitution in Europe was adjourned until later this year. Prosecutors alleged that between 140 and 150 Nigerian girls helped into the Netherlands as asylum seekers had disappeared from asylum centres in 2006 and 2007. About a dozen of the girls were traced, while the rest were thought to have been forced into prostitution in Italy, Spain and France. Most were minors at the time, their ages ranging from 16 to 23.

The Jesus Cheeto Miracle

2009-05-21T00:03:00.000-05:00

Many people have seen and heard about the likeness of Jesus turning up in unlikely places. Now, one North Texas family says they found Jesus in a cheese snack. Dan Bell found his vision of Jesus last week at the gas station. "We were leaving town. I stopped by to fill up with gas and bought some snacks." Inside a 99-cent bag of Cheetos brand cheese snacks, Dan and his wife Sara found something unique. Sara recalls the discovery. "I was putting them in my hand and I had eaten most of the ones in my hand, and one was left lying there. And I said, 'Oh my gosh, look at this. It really looks like a person in a robe praying.'" Dan looked over. "I said, 'Wow, it does look like a praying Jesus.'" The couple nicknamed it "Cheesus.""Cheesus" is about two inches tall. Despite missing a right arm, the Bells see a body, hair, robe and even a tiny face. They say it is a reminder of their blessings from God; but primarily they think it's a funny Cheeto. Various incarnations of "Cheesus" have shown up before; in Houston, Missouri and on the internet site YouTube. The Bells' Cheeto ended up on the front page of the Preston Hollow newspaper. The big question, what to do with it now? Dan says his first reaction was, "Let's put this on eBay. How much do you think we should ask for it? It could be 25 cents, could be 25 dollars. If it's only 25 cents, we're just going to eat it."

Missing Link Found

2009-05-20T00:03:00.000-05:00

Feast your eyes on what a group of scientists claim is the Holy Grail of human evolution. A team of researchers Tuesday unveiled an almost perfectly intact fossil of a 47 million-year-old primate they say represents the long-sought missing link between humans and apes. Officially known as Darwinius masillae, the fossil of the lemur-like creature dubbed Ida shows it had opposable thumbs like humans and fingernails instead of claws. Scientists say the cat-sized animal's hind legs offer evidence of evolutionary changes that led to primates standing upright - a breakthrough that could finally confirm Charles Darwin's theory of evolution. "This specimen is like finding the Lost Ark for archeologists," said lead scientist Jorn Hurum during a ceremony at the American Museum of Natural History. "It is the scientific equivalent of the Holy Grail. This fossil will probably be the one that will be pictured in all textbooks for the next 100 years."A team of amateur fossil hunters discovered the near-perfect remains inside a mile-wide crater outside of Frankfurt, Germany, in 1983. Experts believe the pit was a volcanic caldera where scores of animals from the Eocene period were killed and their remains were kept remarkably well-preserved. Though the pit has been a bountiful source of other fossils, the inexperienced archeologists didn't realize the value of their find. Years later, the University of Oslo bought the 95%-intact fossil, and Hurum studied it in secret for two years. His colleague, Jens Franzen, hailed the discovery as "the eighth wonder of the world." "We're not dealing with our grand, grand, grandmother, but perhaps with our grand, grand, grand aunt," Franzen said. The unveiling of the fossil came as part of a carefully-orchestrated publicity campaign unusual for scientific discoveries. A History Channel film on the discovery will air next week. A book release, and a slew of other documentaries will follow.

Could 'Ghost' Picture At Museum Be Edward Jenner?

2009-05-19T00:03:00.000-05:00

A photograph seems to have captured a hazy image of a man sitting on a chair in the attic of the Edward Jenner Museum, in Berkeley. The picture was taken by BBC photographer Chris Sandys who was gathering images for a story on the museum's new Ghosts in the Attic exhibition. Mr Sandys said: "I don't believe in ghosts myself, but this is strange. "As soon as I'd taken a panoramic photo, I reviewed the image on the camera, and straight away noticed this strange formation of light, shaped like a figure, through the doorway in the next room. "Without moving I did a few takes to try and work out what had caused it but couldn't see anything. It was so weird."A ghostly image, possibly that of Edward Jenner, can be seen through the doorway in the attic of the Edward Jenner MuseumJenner was the pioneer of smallpox vaccination and the father of immunology. He was born in Berkeley in 1749 where he spent most of his career as a doctor in the town before he died in 1823. Sarah Parker, the museum's director, said: "There have always been stories of ghosts at the Edward Jenner Museum. "We usually take them with a large pinch of salt. "We are truly flabbergasted by the image. "You can basically see through a doorway what looks like a figure reclining in a chair, only there is no chair there. "Who knows whether it is Jenner himself? "We have graffiti from soldiers previously billeted in the attic rooms from the late 19th century and perhaps this is one of them or even one of Jenner's servants."

Fire In 'Haunted' Hotel Room

2009-05-18T08:43:00.003-05:00

Some 10 people, including three guests, were forced to flee the 400-year-old grade II-listed George Hotel after the fire started at 3.40am as they were alerted by smoke alarms. It started in a storage room on the top floor and spread to the roof space, damaging the oldest section of the 17th century hotel in Ramsey, Cambs. Jean Axelsen, the hotel cook, said: "There's no way of knowing it's a paranormal event - but there are a lot of coincidences." Her real identity is unknown but Mrs Axelsen's family, who run the hotel, call her Mary and believe she is a former landlady. "It is strange that the fire was contained to that one room and did not spread," she said. "Also nothing electrical is plugged in up there as it is only used for storage."It is at the back of my mind that it could have been something more but Mary would never hurt us and she hates fire. "She died of smoke inhalation so she wouldn't have wanted another fire. "Mary hates fire so much she steals people~s lighters and blows out candles. Her daughter Louise Axelsen, 29, the hotel manager, said: "We do not mind Mary, you get used to having her around. "If you work here, then you are aware that you are also working with ghosts." A Cambridgeshire fire brigade spokesman said the blaze, which has forced the historic George to close one of its restaurants, was sparked by an electrical fault. Mrs Axelsen's son Carl, 19, tackled the blaze with a fire extinguisher but was taken to Hinchingbrooke Hospital, Huntingdon, for smoke inhalation. "I'm not a brave person, but the adrenalin just kicked in and all I could think about was saving my home and my family's business," he said.

2009-05-12T15:06:00.002-05:00

'Ghost Hunters' Charged In Theft At Westland's Eloise Complex

2009-05-12T12:32:00.003-05:00

Four teens accused of sneaking into a Westland building on the old Eloise property — former site of a poorhouse, farm, asylum and a hospital — may have been looking for ghosts, police said. “They said they went there because they heard it was haunted,” police Sgt. Jeff Trzybinski said. Instead, the youngsters have found themselves in trouble for allegations they stole computer equipment, a DVD player and a clock radio. Westland 18th District Judge Mark McConnell on Monday arraigned two 17-year-old defendants on charges of larceny from a building, and two 16-year-old teens are facing similar allegations in juvenile court. The teens are accused shortly after midnight last Thursday of breaking into a Wayne County building — named after retired Wayne County Commissioner Kay Beard — that still houses some county services near Michigan Avenue and Henry Ruff Road.The building sits on a once-sprawling medical complex, and some ghost-hunters have long claimed the site is haunted. Trzybinski credited Garden City Police Officer Robert Matigian with rounding up the four suspects after an anonymous caller provided a tip last Saturday afternoon. Police recovered the stolen items, Trzybinski said. McConnell arraigned two 17-year-old defendants, Bradley Michael Wilson of Westland and Bryant Jacob Marshall of Garden City, on charges of larceny from a building. McConnell set a $10,000/10 percent bond for the teens, entered not-guilty pleas for them and scheduled a May 21 preliminary hearing to determine whether they should stand trial in Wayne County Circuit Court. Larceny from a building carries penalties ranging up to four years in prison upon conviction.

Technical Problems

2009-04-27T07:19:00.001-05:00

This blog will be out of commission for the next few days due to technical problems. We hope to be up and running by Thursday or Friday. Please accept our apologies.

Mysterious Figure Spotted

2009-04-24T00:03:00.000-05:00

A mysterious figure resembling a human being was sighted on the Doha Corniche’s parking lot, according to a report published in a local Arabic daily. The report is based on the statement of an Arab expatriate lady who said she had seen the strange figure near the Oryx statue while walking in the area.Quoting the woman, the daily said she took a picture of it in spite of being terribly frightened. “She was very soon surrounded by a large number of people who also attested to the fact of what she had seen . But it suddenly disappeared out of their sight when they tried to go near it,” the report added.

Giant Mystery Blob Found Near Dawn Of Time

2009-04-24T00:02:00.001-05:00

A strange giant space “blob” spotted when the universe was relatively young has got astronomers puzzled. Using space and ground telescopes, astronomers looked back to when the universe was only 800 million years old and found something that was out of proportion and out of time. It was gaseous, big, and emitted a certain type of radiation, said study lead author Masami Ouchi, an astronomer at the Carnegie Observatories in Pasadena, Calif. Scientists don’t even know what to call it. So they just called it a radiation-emitting “blob.” They used that horror-film staple 34 times in their peer-reviewed study, which will be published in next month’s edition of the Astrophysical Journal. More formally, they named it Himiko, after a legendary ancient Japanese queen. The photo of it is beyond fuzzy. “The puzzle is — what is it?” said California Institute of Technology astronomer Richard Ellis, who wasn’t on the research team but praised the find. “Often a puzzle leads to a breakthrough. My nose tells me that this object is rather special.” Ouchi and Ellis said one possibility is that by chance, astronomers captured the moment a galaxy was forming in the early universe — something that never has been seen before. As astronomers gaze deeper into space, they are looking farther back in time. What Ouchi found was from 12.9 billion years ago. Only three other objects have been seen that are from deeper in time and space.But what’s most remarkable about this blob is its size: It's 55,000 light-years long, which is comparable to the radius of the disk-shaped Milky Way. According to many theories of the universe, nothing was supposed to be that big at that time in the universe. The other objects from that period are far smaller, Ouchi said. Ouchi said it also could be two colliding galaxies, or might have something to do with a black hole.

Ancient Web-Footed Creature Shows Early Step In Evolution Toward Seals, Sea Lions, Walruses

2009-04-23T00:03:00.000-05:00

Scientists say they've found a "missing link" in the early evolution of seals and walruses — the skeleton of a web-footed, otter-like creature that was evolving away from a life on land. Those feet and other anatomical features show an early step on the way to developing flippers and other adaptations for a life in the sea, the scientists said. One expert called it "a fantastic discovery" that fills a crucial gap in the fossil record. The 23 million-year-old creature was not a direct ancestor of today's seals, sea lions and walruses, a group known collectively as pinnipeds. It's from a different branch. But it does show what an early direct ancestor looked like, said researcher Natalia Rybczynski. The fossil was found on Devon Island in the Canadian Arctic, bolstering the notion that the far north was an early center of pinniped evolution, she said. Rybczynski, a researcher at the Canadian Museum of Nature in Ottawa, and colleagues from the United States report the find in Thursday's issue of the journal Nature. They named the creature Puijila darwini ("pew-YEE-lah dar-WIN-eye"). That combines an Inuit word for "young sea mammal," often a seal, with an homage to Charles Darwin. The famed naturalist had written that a land animal "by occasionally hunting for food in shallow water, then in streams or lakes, might at last be converted into an animal so thoroughly aquatic as to brave the open ocean." Scientists already knew that pinnipeds evolved from land animals. But the earliest known fossil from that group already had flippers. So Puijila shows an earlier stage of evolution, the researchers said. Puijila measured about three feet from its snout to the tip of its long tail. It resembled a river otter but had a short snout, large eyes and a thinner tail, Rybczynski said. It could hunt on land or in water, where it was apparently "a pretty darned good swimmer," she said.The fossil was discovered in sediments of what had been a lake when the Arctic was much warmer, showing Puijila was at home in fresh water as well as on land. Besides eating fish, it probably ate rodents and ducks with dog-like teeth set in powerful jaws, Rybczynski said. Annalisa Berta, a biology professor at San Diego State University who wasn't involved in the work, welcomed the find. "This is a fantastic discovery that fills a critical evolutionary gap (from) when terrestrial carnivores traded limbs for fins and moved from land to sea," she wrote in an e-mail. Apart from the poorly preserved ribs, researchers recovered about 65 percent of the skeleton. Berta said this completeness will help scientists sort out the order in which key pinniped features appeared. Puijila's fossilized remains were found in 2007 and 2008. Its Arctic location was "completely unexpected" because most scientists believed pinnipeds evolved on the west coast of North America, Rybczynski said. The discovery lends some credence to a hypothesis that the Arctic was an early center for these mammals' evolution, she said. Not all experts agreed. Maybe Puijila arrived in the Arctic from elsewhere, finding an area where its competitors could not survive, said Tom Demere, curator of paleontology at the San Diego Natural History Museum. He noted that an older fossil that the study authors consider a pinniped had been discovered in Mongolia. (That fossil included only head and jaw remnants and so its body features are not known). So the new evidence for Arctic evolution is "inconclusive at best," he said. But Demere, who didn't participate in the Nature paper, called the discovery exciting because it provides direct evidence for what early pinnipeds in the land-to-water transition looked like.

The Lake Erie 'Storm Hag', Demonic Siren Of The Great Lakes

2009-04-21T00:03:00.000-05:00

Since first explored in the 1600’s the Great Lakes have earned a reputation as being a treacherous and unforgiving waterway. Extremely violent storms seem to appear out of nowhere taking both vessel and crew to a watery grave. In 1977 author Jay Gourley’s “The Great Lakes Triangle” proposed there were some sinister forces behind all of these mysterious disappearances. But many sailors on Lake Erie at least, have had a theory for centuries on the unexplainable storms and the shipwrecks that plague the fresh water lake. According to legend the Storm Hag lives at the bottom of the lake, close to Presque Isle Peninsula . She is a hideous she demon, her yellow eyes shine in the dark like those of a cat, her skin is a pale shade green. Her teeth are sharp and pointed as a shark, able to tear the skin off of her victims. They are also green, which gives her another less common name, Jenny Greenteeth. Her hands have long pointed nails like talons that have a poison with which she can paralyze a poor soul with just one small prick. Her arms are long and strong, and they wrap around her victims making it impossible for them to escape her flesh hungry attack. The old legend tells that like a siren before she attacks she sings a quiet song over the waves that few have survived to retell. Traditionally the song she sings is:

“Come into the water, love,
Dance beneath the waves,
Where dwell the bones of sailor lads
Inside my saffron caves.”

And as soon as the seafarer hears this song the Storm Hag attacks. She calls up a violent storm that tosses the crew of the vessel around so she can lurch up from the water and grab them with her long arms. Others tell that she waits the storm out and when the sailors believe all is calm she rises from the waves, spitting lightning and winds with such force the entire vessel sinks in a few seconds. Local history has it that on a fall evening in 1782 an owler ship was caught in a bad storm on the lake and desperately tried to make it back to port at Presque Isle. It was tossed to and fro violently for more than an hour and when it was in site of land the storm abruptly stopped. The clouds dissipated and the moonlight from the full moon illuminated the water, and the sailors could see they were less than a mile from the northern edge of the Peninsula and home. Without warning the water next to the boat foamed and the Storm Hag burst forth from the surface. She spewed venom and attacked the crew unleashing her fury upon them. Within seconds the ship and its crew were taken beneath the waves to their doom. Witnesses on shore apparently heard the screams of the sailors echoing across the lake just before the vessel disappeared. To this day some of those who sail the lake near Presque Isle claim to hear phantom screams of the victims who were taken long ago. Now these legends seem the work of over imaginative sailors until one looks at some very disturbing incidents documented within the last century. On December 1942 the oil tanker Clevco was being escorted with towline by the tugboat Admiral. They had left port at Toledo and were traveling east when just off the coast of Cleveland when something strange happened. At 4am the Clevco radioed that the Admiral had disappeared without incident. The crew noted that the towline was no longer attached to the tugboat but it was at a sharp angle into the waves, as if the tugboat had somehow sunk to the bottom of the lake without a sound. The Clevco immediately stopped and radioed the Coast Guard and two cutters and a few motorboats were dispatched to the coordinates. However arriving on scene they found nothing. Both ships had vanished. The next morning the Civil Air Patrol joined the search, and pilot Clara Livingston spotted the Clevco 15 miles south from its original location. As soon as she reported the location to the Coast Guard her radio went dead and she saw the ship disappear as a cloud of snow fell upon the ship from out of nowhere. Since her radio had died she returned to base. The Coast Guard again went to the location and found nothing. They widened the search and the hunt continued.Strangely, later in the day the cutter Ossipee spotted the tanker and when almost in range to board her, once again the snow storm phenomena appeared and the vessel once again disappeared. Then at 3:30 amazingly the Clevco once again was in radio contact with the Coast Guard. They told them the ship was adrift and they were unable to steer her. While in contact with them for over an hour the authorities told them to dump their oil so the rescuers could more readily find them. But at 4:30 the contact with the Clevco ceased and it was never heard from nor seen again. Early the next morning bodies of two crew members of the Clevco washed ashore near Cleveland, their lifejackets covered in oil. No other crew members were found, living or dead. Then there is the mysterious disappearance of Captain George Donner. In April of 1937 the freighter O.M. McFarland left Presque Isle for Port Washington, Wisconsin. The Captain retired to his cabin for the evening and instructed the first mate to notify him when they were nearing their destination. According to the Cleveland Press of April 29th 1937, "At 1:15 a.m. (April 29, 1937--J.T.) as the McFarland neared Port Washington, the mate, as instructed, descended to the captain's room to summon him. There was no response to his knocking on the door, so the second officer opened it and peered in, assuming that the captain was merely sleeping heavily. But Captain Donner was not in the bed or anywhere else in sight." "On the possibility that the captain had walked aft to get coffee or partake of the night lunch, the mate hurried back to the galley, but except for a couple of off-duty firemen finishing a midnight snack, it was deserted. Quickly summoning the other mate and the chief engineer, he organized a thorough search of the McFarland, crew members combing every nook and cranny of the thirty-four year-old vessel. Without a doubt, Captain Donner had disappeared!" "Ships along the McFarland's route were asked to keep a watch for Donner's body, and the same request was passed on to communities along the shore." Captain Donner's body was never found, it was as if he was snatched off the face of the earth. Was Donner a victim of the Strom Hag? His disappearance does fit the tradition of the legend. Is there a demonic entity that lurks at the bottom of Lake Erie near Presque Isle which takes the unwary navigator to their death? Surely the number of shipwrecks on the lake within recorded history gives one pause. Are they victims of odd meteorological phenomena or a sinister paranormal entity that holds sway over the area?

Exmoor Beast Inspires Novel

2009-04-20T00:03:00.000-05:00

A horror novel based on the Exmoor Beast is about to hit the shelves – almost 15 years after news of its completion was featured in the County Gazette. The newspaper included a half-page spread on local author Paul Skinner’s thriller about the beast, called Hunter, on June 10, 1994. Although the coverage failed to get the book published, Paul said it was enough for him to hang on to his dream of becoming an author and keep the manuscript tucked away in a safe place. Some 15 years later he found the draft and started work on it again, spurred on by fresh sightings of the roaming beast. Now Paul says his dream has finally been realised as his chilling horror novel goes on sale in a fortnight.He told the County Gazette: “I am no longer a carpenter by job role – now I own and run a school and care homes, and can afford to promote this novel and get it published as it deserved. “My hope is to create even more mystery and notoriety about Exmoor so that tourists come looking for the Exmoor Beast. “I feel the book can make the moors even more of a tourist attraction.” He added: “Hunter tells a story about ordinary people who live in Porlock, Taunton and the little villages around and on the moor.” The book follows the tale of ex-Royal Marine Commando Hunter whose son disappears from the moors. During the search for him, both Hunter and his wife Jenny encounter a mythical monster like no other. A book launch will be held in Taunton next month.

Maid `Cooked Up Voodoo Blood'

2009-04-19T00:03:00.000-05:00

A domestic helper has appeared in court accused of trying to injure her employer by mixing her menstrual blood in a pot of vegetables she was cooking. Kwun Tong Magistrates' Court heard that Indra Ningsih, 26, admitted to police she had done so in the belief that it would improve her relationship with her employer. She entered no plea yesterday and was remanded in custody until the next hearing on May 13. Prosecutor Vincent Lee gave a statement to the court in which the Indonesian maid admitted under caution to mixing the blood with the vegetables in the belief that it would make her employer, surnamed Mok, "more amicable and less picky." The helper has been charged with one count of "administering poison or other destructive or noxious substances with intent to injure." It is alleged that on Tuesday Indra Ningsih was told to cook some vegetables at her employer's home in Tsueng Kwan O. In his statement, Lee said Mok peered through the kitchen door and saw the helper acting suspiciously. She entered the kitchen and found the accused throwing something into the trash bin.When Mok checked, she allegedly found blood clot-like substances mixed with the vegetables and water in the cooking pan. She later discovered a used sanitary napkin in the bin and called the police. Indra Ningsih claimed Mok had been unhappy with her performance and had constantly scolded her since being hired last July. Last year, a court in Saudi Arabia sentenced two Asian domestic helpers to four months in prison and 250 lashes each for contaminating the tea of their employer with urine and menstrual blood. One of them was from Indonesia and the other from the Philippines. In December 2007, another Indonesian domestic helper in Hong Kong added urine to the drinking water of her employer and his family. She believed it would make the family treat her better. It was discovered after the family noticed a difference in the taste of the water. The maid was jailed for three months on a charge of "administering poison or other destructive or noxious things with intent to injure." In some Southeast Asian cultures menstrual blood is thought to have special magical powers.

Dr. Franklin Ruehl, Volume 5

2009-04-18T00:03:00.000-05:00

Sightings Of Spanish Lady Inspire Abbey Ghost Walk

2009-04-17T00:03:00.000-05:00

The multi-million pound revamp of Torre Abbey has stirred old bones in the historic building. Over the years staff working at the former monastery and visitors have reported sightings of ghostly goings on. Now a special walk has been organised to bring to life some of the tales which haunt the remains of the biggest surviving medieval abbey in Devon and Cornwall. For example when giving last rites on the deathbed of one of the Spanish prisoners held in the Barn, a local priest discovered the person was not a seaman at all, but a woman in disguise, who had been smuggled on to the ship to be with her lover or husband.The Spanish Barn was used to imprison 397 Spanish prisoners who were captured by the English Navy when fighting in the Armada in 1588. Their ship was towed to Torquay and the prisoners were all held captive in overcrowded conditions. The Spanish lady's ghost has been seen reappearing in Torre Abbey Meadows near to the waterfront, drifting slowly back towards the entrance of the Barn with a very down and tired looking face. Other sightings have included a headless monk and an 18th Century lady. Now a Ghost Walk is being held on Friday May 15 from 7pm. Tickets cost £6.50. Numbers are limited. Contact Torre Abbey: email torreabbey@torbay.gov.uk

8 Charges After Allegedly Going Ghost Hunting At Hex House

2009-04-16T00:03:00.000-05:00

State police said they have charged eight teens with trespassing after they allegedly went ghost hunting at the so-called Hex House in North Hopwell Township. Two of the teens, 18-year-olds Cody Ross, of Red Lion, and Kiley Shortt, of Red Lion, were also charged with criminal mischief for damaging a door while trying to get into the house at 1709 Rehmeyers Hollow Road at about 10:30 p.m., police said.The house became famous after three people killed Nelson Rehmeyer, a man they believed was a witch, or "pow-wower," in 1928. The murder trial became national news, and the house has been broken into multiple times in recent years.

State Of Chihuahua Terrorized by "Man-Bat"

2009-04-15T00:03:00.000-05:00

According to information supplied by Ing. Francisco Prieto Torres, residents of La Junta, Guerrero (Chihuahua) have reported the appearance of a "Man-Bat". They describe it as a very tall entity, standing some 2 meters tall, with two pairs of wings (one pair larger than the other). Its face is covered in fur and has red, bloodshot eyes. Also reported are a pair of small, kangaroo type hands that it held loosely, as though it lacked any strength in them. The main witness is a young student at Universidad Regional del Norte, whose name is being kept confidential, and who claims that the strange humanoid chased him for 15 minutes on the evening of March 6. The witness was driving a Liberty back to his home after his studies, when he saw a bulk on the roadway asphalt resembling a hunched-over man who seemed to be covered in a blanket. The figure suddenly stood up, taking two leaps forward and displaying a set of wings similar to those of a bat. The young man floored the accelerator in an attempt to flee, but the strange creature flew with great power, keeping abreast of the vehicle and looking in through the passenger window. "Those were 15 minutes of maximum despair," he said. This report has been made known on local radio and in the print media, such as El Heraldo de Chihuahua.Creature has wings and its face is covered in fur.Ing. Francisco Prieto has already located the place where the young man's father works and he wishes to interview him himself. If this is achieved, he will be forwarding the materials to me to make the entire ordeal known. It should be added that the family is known for being respectable and are held in high esteem in the community. Local radio has reported that that a photo of the "Man-Bat" exists, although no further details have been provided. Angela Mendez and Viviana Ledezma are two women who claim to have heard the humanoid squealing amid the screns of an apple grove near the Miñaca Cemetery. A joint mission was undertaken by members of the Police and Civil Defense of the Municipality of Guerrero in the State of Chihuahua. Socorro Rodriguez Erives reported that after researching several locations it was not possible to find the whereabouts of this strange entity. According to initial reports, the flying entity had its lair in the caves of the mountainous area of the Miñaca region. Despite their best efforts, no trace of the creature was found. Many think that it was just a myth, while others associate it with "Mothman" I will continue to report on this situation when word is received from Ing. Prieto Torres, who is looking into this Mexican case.

The Spooky Moment A 'Ghost' Haunts The Former Courthouse Where Prisoners Were Hanged

2009-04-14T07:23:00.005-05:00

This is the spooky moment a ghostly white apparition was caught on camera as it eerily floated through the air. What appears to be a glowing white orb can clearly be seen emerging from a fireplace in a hair salon that was once a courthouse - and where criminals used to be hanged in the cellar. The property's current owner, hairdresser Harry Browns, 35, said his customers have been plagued by spooky apparitions for years. But he said this was the first time one had ever been filmed in the salon in Market Harborough, Leicestershire. 'We've been aware of an eerie presence in the salon for years but to actually see it on film is very odd,' Mr Browns said. 'Some of the girls working here have been quite freaked out by what they've seen. Scissors and hairbrushes have gone missing and order sheets have printed out on their own.'On one occasion a customer saw two people standing by the fireplace wearing old clothing. 'He freaked out when we said no one was there so I decided to get some professionals to investigate.' The spectre was caught on film after spook hunters Ghost UK set up cameras in the salon - a former courthouse dating back to 1820 - earlier this year.At 8.21pm on February 28, a ghostly white flash appeared on the camera. Kelly Goddard, 31, of Ghost UK, said the ghost could be that of a former prisoner. 'The most interesting part of the night was when we saw what looked like an orb or spirit,' she said. 'On the screen it seemed to change shape. We believe the shape could have something to do with what the building was used for in the past. 'Apparently it was used as a courthouse and criminals used to be hanged in the building's cellar. 'This could explain the strange orbs and the dip in temperature felt by the staff and customers.' Father-of-two Mr Browns said he is happy for the ghosts to stay as long as they remain friendly. He said: 'I haven't decided whether to hire an exorcist yet, as long as the ghosts don't do any harm I suppose they can stay.'

China’s Real Area 51 UFO Zone Revealed

2009-04-13T12:03:00.000-05:00

For years many westerners, especially UFO researchers, have wondered where China’s equivalent of the Area-51 in the US is without being able to pinpoint a location. Now thanks to an news investigation we are able to solve this mystery with a high degree of certainty. Recently a article appeared in the Govt owned Chinese regional newspaper, Sichuan Daily. The most curious article, titled 'A large number of Air Force SU-30/SU-27 fighters assemble in China's Area 51', refers to an area in the Sichuan province and includes some photos. The article mentiones that a large scale gathering and training exercise involving China’s hi-tech SU-27 jet-fighters is taking place there at the current time. Strangely, the article does not specify the exact location of this event.Even stranger is the article's lengthy explanation of the original Area 51’s alien and UFO connection all while referring to this area as China's equivalent. Thanks to some sharp-eyed local readers, the area has been now been identified as within the Chengdu Military Zone near the city of Chengdu which is the capital of the south-western province of Sichuan. The specific field lies between the Chengdu Military Area Air Force Command headquarters and the Bai Shiyi (White City) Military Airport. Does this represent a leak by the Chinese authorities designed to reveal that they too possess UFO technology? Many will be asking why China is now engaging in these intense military exercises. Others will be asking if there is a connection to this area and the alleged UFO bases high in the Himalayas to its west or if activities here have anything to do with the multitude of mass UFO sightings occurring throughout China. One thing is for certain, China’s newly revealed Area 51 probably holds some earth-shattering secrets.

Woman Develops Phantom Third Arm

2009-04-12T00:03:00.000-05:00

A stroke victim has developed a phantom third arm which she uses 'just like a real-life limb'. According to doctors, the woman's brain 'moves' the arm as if it was real and the rest of her body responds when it is 'touched' by the phantom hand. Doctors say the woman 'sees' the new arm and even scratch an itch with it.The 64-year-old woman has lost the use of her left arm but her brain recognizes an imaginary limb that has taken its place. Scientists used magnetic resonance imaging to confirm that the woman's brain was issuing commands to the phantom limb and acknowledging its actions. Doctors say phantom limbs can occur when a patient loses an arm or leg but can still 'feel' the missing limb.

Buyer beware! Craigslist Offers Title To Haunted Car.

2009-04-10T00:03:00.000-05:00

A driver is selling a special 1992 Honda Accord on the Los Angeles craigslist -- after spending thousands to fix it up, he reckons it's still haunted. Some of the car's special features: "Seems to be possessed by a demon or some sort of entity. Makes low mumbling backwards-like indistinguishable talking sounds through the speakers, which aren't even hooked up to anything. There is no stereo in it, so it can't be anything to do with that.When you get into the car, it makes you have odd feeling like you wanna leave fast to get out [of] the car and also there's [a] cold spot inside the rear seat [that] makes you uneasy." He's asking US$6,500, but he'll take half that if you twist his arm. Fair disclosure: The seller warns potential buyers that the vehicle is an attempted murderer: "It makes no sense at all, but it has almost killed me many of times while I was driving to work and school... Please take this car out of my life. May God Bless You & Have Mercy On Your Soul!"

100 Year Old Lady Wakes From The Dead In The Morgue

2009-04-09T00:03:00.000-05:00

Country House Ghost Caught On CCTV

2009-04-08T00:03:00.000-05:00

Paranormal experts are investigating an alleged ghost sighting apparently caught on CCTV in the grounds of an Edwardian country house. In the eight-second footage, a luminous yellow glow is seen emerging from trees outside Croxteth Hall in Liverpool. It then heads towards a path leading to the house before disappearing. Like many old buildings, the hall has a reputation for being haunted, and the mystery light - captured at 3am last month - has left paranormal enthusiasts in high spirits. One theory among the happy mediums is that it may be the ghost of former resident Hugh William Osbert Molyneux, the 7th Earl of Sefton, who died in 1972. Another contender is the infamous gambler William Philip Molyneux, the 2nd Earl of Sefton, who laid the foundation stone for nearby Aintree Racecourse in 1829. A local legend says his spirit appears and strolls the grounds around the time of the Grand National. Former Most Haunted ghost hunter and TV presenter Jason Karl has seen the footage, and believes it could be an important sighting in ghost circles.He told Sky News Online: "This is very intriguing. Video footage of phantoms is very rare. "If this stands up to scrutiny, it could be a very important piece of spectral evidence for the worldwide community of paranormal enthusiasts." He believes the last time an alleged ghost sighting was caught on CCTV was at Belgrave Hall in Leicester in December 1998. Then, security cameras appeared to capture a strange white apparition, but it later turned out to be a fake, he said. Liverpool councillor Berni Turner said she was keeping an open mind about the Croxteth Hall footage. "I'm a huge believer in the paranormal and think this footage is really interesting," she said. "It's great to think that we may have ghosts walking around these beautiful grounds." Generations of the Molyneux family lived at the hall from the sixteenth century until the death of the last Earl in 1972.

Mystery Creature Bites, Claws Family's SUV

2009-04-07T00:03:00.000-05:00

A mysterious creature leaves its mark, ripping a vehicle to pieces. "Oh man," exclaimed 8-year-old RJ Gilliam. "I saw the car. I was like, 'What in the world happened?'" Scratches, bite marks and holes -- that's the surprise the Gilliam family of Lincoln County found in their driveway on Sunday. "I didn't hear anything," said SUV owner Holly Gilliam. "That scares me, too. Why didn't I hear something?" The unknown creature destroyed the brakes. "You know where you can get spotlights, there's big giant holes where it ripped them out," said RJ.Whatever damaged the 2004 Saturn Vue ripped through fiberglass and caused thousands of dollars in damage. "I can't see somebody's pet doing that," said RJ's mother. "Maybe a bobcat or a coyote," the 8-year-old offered as possibilities. Experts couldn't say for sure what caused the damage. "They came out and said they'd never seen anything like it and took pictures," said Holly Gilliam. Whatever it was, it has paws. It left its muddy prints on the hood, no bigger than tennis balls. "I would have never thought anything could do that," said RJ. "And if it did that to the car, what could it do to me? I'm going to be in the lookout to see if anything is coming at me."

Obama Reverse Speech: "Thank you Satan"

2009-04-06T00:03:00.000-05:00

Giant Sea Worm Terrorizes Aquarium

2009-04-05T00:03:00.000-05:00

Staff at a British aquarium have captured a massive sea worm that had been terrorizing other aquatic life. For months, the 4-foot-long creature -- which staffers call "Barry" -- had been devastating coral reef at Newquay's Blue Reef Aquarium. The menacing monster also apparently injured a Tang fish. Initially, aquarium workers weren't sure what was harming the coral, which in some cases was cut in half. After weeks with no clues, they decided to take the display apart to see if they could find the culprit, Local news reported.Workers laid bait traps, which were mysteriously destroyed in the night, as the glutton apparently devoured the fish hooks right along with the bait. Finally, staffers spotted the tropical worm, which bit through a 20-pound fishing line before staffers were able to successfully remove it from the tank. Skip over this content The creature is covered with nasty bristles that sting and can cause permanent numbness in humans, the newspaper said. "Tt really does look like something out of a horror movie," Matt Slater, the aquarium's curator, told the Mail. "It's over 4 feet long with these bizarre-looking jaws." Slater said he suspects Barry arrived as a baby in a shipment from another aquarium. The worm now lives in his own tank.

UFO Hoax Leads To Arrest Of New Jersey Men

2009-04-04T00:03:00.000-05:00

Two men who released helium balloons with flares attached into the night sky above Morris County, NJ say they were "on a mission to help people think rationally and question the credibility of so-called UFO 'professionals.' " But professionals in the field of law-enforcement have some questions of their own, and local prosecutor Robert Bianchi has filed disorderly person charges against Chris Russo, 29, and Joe Rudy, 28. Speaking to reporters yesterday, Bianchi said, "If there is a single word to describe this... it is in essence stupidity." Rudy, a science teacher, and Russo, who works in sales, revealed their identities in an article for eSkeptic magazine explaining the hoax, which took place over the course of five nights in January and early February: "Like most other people, we had always heard about the uneducated farmer spotting an alien spaceship hovering over his farm, but we wondered if that amount of gullibility could be found in our upper-middle class hometown of Hanover, NJ, and the surrounding cities."Indeed, gullibility could be found, and though local police immediately dismissed the phenomenon as road flares attached to balloons, the media ran with the story, and soon History Channel show "UFO Hunters" was on the scene. Russo and Rudy finally ended their "social experiment" after Bianchi issued a public statement asking the unidentified light-launchers to stop because they could be interfering with planes traveling to area airports. Yesterday, Bianchi said their actions were "indictable offenses," but because they'd ended the hoax at his urging, he would take a "measured approach." And in addition to their eSkeptic article, Russo and Rudy documented every aspect of the hoax on video; it's all here for those who want to disbelieve.

Tantallon Castle Ghost Photographed 30 Years Ago

2009-04-03T00:03:00.000-05:00

A second photograph of a “ghost” at a medieval castle was revealed yesterday. It was taken in virtually the same place – but more than 30 years earlier. A ghostly image taken in May 2008, caused nationwide interest when published last month. It seemed to show a figure behind a grille at Tantallon castle, North Berwick, near Edinburgh.A earlier photo of a "ghost" picture taken at Tantallon Castle, which has emerged after 32 yearsThe picture above was taken in 1977 by Grace Lamb, of Edinburgh. It showed her late husband Hugh and children Paul and Kelly – and what appears to be a woman in red behind the grille. She sent it to ghost expert Professor Richard Wiseman after she saw the other very similar “ghost” photo in newspapers. He said: “I am skeptical, but this is a great find.”

Strange Noises At Haunted Hooker Hut

2009-04-02T00:03:00.000-05:00

Supernatural encounters at Mount Cook's oldest hut is the hot topic among village residents. The remote Hooker Hut was built in 1910 - it is a three hour walk from the visitor centre and sits about 11-hundred metres above Mount Cook Village.Mountain Guide Jane Morris says she and a friend experienced some sort of encounter on an overnight stay at the hut. She says it felt as if someone else was there. Ms Morris says they were awake most of the night to noises of someone banging and shuffling around. She says it is believed it may be the spirit of a man who was involved in building the hut who was killed in an avalanche in the early 19-hundreds.

USAF: 'Bright Light' Not Man-Made Object

2009-04-01T00:03:00.000-05:00

The flashing lights and booming sounds that were attributed to a piece of orbiting space junk were not the result of a man-made object, according to the United States Air Force. In an e-mail sent to WTOP, Stefan Bocchino of the USAF Joint Space Operations Center says the "bright light" seen over parts of the East Coast Sunday night was not a result of a man-made space object. The Joint Space Operations Center tracks more than 19,000 man-made objects in space, but no natural phenomena. It was first believed that the lights and sounds were caused by space junk related to the Russian rocket Soyuz docking with the International Space Stations Saturday. Geoff Chester, spokesman for the U.S. Naval Observatory, was nearly sure the object was the rocket's booster tanks for numbers of reasons. Whatever flashed through the sky followed the exact path the space junk was traveling over the eastern seaboard.Witnesses describe the flashes in the sky as being colored with yellows and oranges. While fireballs usually throw sparks that appear green followed by trains of blue and red. The loud explosion accompanying the balls of fire in the sky also could be explained if the object was a rocket tank with residual amounts of booster fuel. The flashes and booms that people heard prompted calls to 911 and the National Weather Service late Sunday night. According to WVEC.com, the calls were numerous enough for the National Weather Service to release this statement late Sunday night: "Numerous reports have been called in to this office and into local law enforcement concerning what appeared to be flashes of light in the sky over the Suffolk/Virginia Beach area. We are confident in saying that this was not lightning...and have been in contact with military and other government agencies to determine the cause. So far...we have not seen or heard of any damage from this and will continue to inquire as to the cause."

Dr. Franklin Ruehl, Volume 4

2009-03-31T00:03:00.000-05:00

China Deploys Death Vans

2009-03-30T00:03:00.000-05:00

Mobile "death vans" are being deployed across China in what officials say is a "civilised alternative" to the traditional method of execution for death row prisoners, according to a report in a British newspaper. Amnesty International has condemned the practice saying "there is strong evidence" Chinese authorities run a lucrative side business out of the vans by harvesting the organs of dead prisoners. The vehicles, which can reach top speeds of 128km/h and look like an operating theatre inside, are cruising China's streets to make executions more cost-effective and efficient. The vans are thought to have been launched after hushed trials before the Beijing Olympics. "We have gathered strong evidence suggesting the involvement of Chinese police, courts and hospitals in the organ trade," an Amnesty International spokesperson was quoted as saying."The bodies cannot be examined. Corpses are driven to a crematorium and burned before independent witnesses can view them." The prisoner is reportedly strapped to an electric-powered stretcher before a team of doctors administer drugs and then reportedly "harvest" the lucrative organs — eyes, kidney, liver, pancreas and lungs which are left pristine condition. The British Transplantation Society has also condemned China in the past for harvesting prisoners' organs. Annual executions in China are expected to rise from 1715 to around 10,000 in the next few years as more people are convicted for the 68 crimes, including tax evasion, that are punishable by death. But the designer of the van, Kang Zhongwen, said the vehicles were "promoting human rights" as the executions were carried out more "quickly, clinically and safely" than the traditional gunshot to the head. Jinguan Auto manufactures the high tech vehicles along with their bullet-proof limousines. "We have not sold our execution cars to foreign countries yet but if they need one they could contact our company directly," reporters quote a spokesman as saying.

Strange Lights AboveFamous UFO Spot

2009-03-29T00:03:00.000-05:00

More strange lights have been spotted over Suffolk - this time not far from the county's most famous UFO incident. The fast-moving silent light was seen to move in a pattern over Rendlesham Forest before suddenly disappearing. UFO-logists claim the forest is still regularly visited by alien craft and is a portal to the stars, a sort of gateway by which spaceships can easily arrive and depart, and there have been many sightings in the area. Supermarket delivery driver Justin Watson, of Ipswich, saw the latest unexplained light last week as he was travelling through the forest after making a delivery in Butley. “As I was driving I looked into the sky to see a very bright light, what I thought was a star or very bright star/planet similar to Venus - however, I quickly noticed it was moving, at a medium speed across the sky,” he said. “There were no flashing lights around it and so, rather interested, I stopped on the verge and got out of my van to see if it was making a noise.“I couldn't hear anything - even above the noise of the van running.” Mr Watson, a UFO enthusiast, thought the light could possibly be a helicopter but felt in the quiet of the forest he would have been able to have heard its engine. “It was moving quite rapidly however seemed to change its course very slightly every few seconds, almost symmetrically,” he said. “I tried to follow it but I couldn't see it again after I moved off.” He said friends had seen a filmed what was thought to be a UFO over a music festival at Martlesham Heath last year - a video has been put on the You Tube web site - and also a fast-moving bright light above Norwich Road, Ipswich. It was in 1980 that an alien spaceship was said to have landed close to the Woodbridge air base, an incident which sparked an investigation by the American air force and is also in Ministry of Defence records.

Cannibal Eats Her Friend

2009-03-28T00:03:00.003-05:00

A cannibal mum axed a friend to death, cooked her body and ate the meat — while the killer’s young son looked on. Olesya Mostovschikova, 27, told police she rowed with Tatiana Romanchuk, 32, during a booze-up. Officer Oleg Lobach said Olesya calmly told cops: “I took the axe and hit her a number of times on her head. “Then I cut off her ears, gouged out one eye, cut off an arm and a hand.Olesya MostovschikovaI then cooked the parts in the oven.” Another friend, who is being treated as a witness, claims that she was forced to eat the flesh. Cops say Olesya’s son, seven, witnessed the murder and the cooking. He is now in care. Locals at Irkutsk, in Siberia, Russia, found Tatiana’s legs in a rubbish bin.

No Vampires At Our School

2009-03-27T00:04:00.000-05:00

The headmaster of one of the city's most prestigious exam schools is dealing with an unusual rumor sweeping student classrooms. There are no vampires at Boston Latin School, says headmaster Lynne Moone Teta. Seriously. Students at the school, which was founded in 1635, began e-mailing news organizations Wednesday night with the strange story of vampires roaming the halls. "Supposedly 3 students believe that they are vampires and today when a student was bitten the police were informed," wrote one student in a message to local news. "I heard that one girl was arrested another suspended." Police, however, denied reports that anyone at the school was bitten. The rumors were strong enough to cause anxiety among the student body and disrupt classes on Thursday. "I seek your cooperation in redirecting your energy toward the learning objectives of the day. Please do not sensationalize or discuss these rumors," Teta wrote in a notice obtained by the Boston Globe and sent to faculty, students and parents.Teta said she was concerned that some students' safety might be jeopardized because of the rumors. "At no time was anyone's safety in jeopardy," she wrote. In its long, rich history the school's students have included revolutionary firebrands Ben Franklin, Sam Adams, John Hancock, but likely never vampires. Boston police acknowledged visiting the school Wednesday after learning about the rumors. "We did go over there and speak to some of the students and quelled the rumors that were going and kind of told them the effect those rumors could have on the rest of the student population," spokesman Eddy Chrispin said. Interest in vampires among young people has been rekindled in the past year with the release of the hit movie "Twilight". It tells the story of a teenage girl who falls in love with a vampire. The movie, which stars teen heart throb Robert Pattinson, was released on DVD last weekend. The DVD sold 13 million copies on its first day of sales, according to Entertainment Weekly.

Haunting Photo Baffles Ghost Busters

2009-03-27T00:03:00.000-05:00

An eerie image of a figure in period costume has spooked experts investigating apparent photographic evidence of ghosts. The picture, taken in May 2008, appears to show a man or woman in a ruff peering out of a barred window at Tantallon Castle. No mannequins or costumed guides are employed at the castle, and three photographic experts have confirmed that no digital trickery was used on the photo. Even confirmed ghost sceptic Professor Richard Wiseman, who led the study, admitted being puzzled. "It is certainly very curious," he said. "We ran it by three photographic experts and they said it hadn't been Photoshopped at all. "The figure appears to be in period costume, but we know 100% that Tantallon Castle is not the sort of place that has dummies or costumed guides - they just don't go in for that sort of thing." Tantallon Castle, a ruined fortress dating back to the 14th Century, stands on a remote rocky headland near North Berwick on the Scottish east coast. It was badly damaged in an attack by Oliver Cromwell's forces in 1651.Christopher Aitchison, who took the photo, said: "I was not aware of anyone, or anything, being present in my picture, only noticing the anomaly when I got home. "Staff have verified that there were no sinister dummies in period costume or historical re-enactments going on that day at the castle. "I did not notice any nice old ladies wearing ruffs walking around the stairs! Some people have suggested its just light reflecting on rocks and one person suggested it may be King James V of Scotland." Psychologist Prof Wiseman, from the University of Hertfordshire, who has made many studies of the supernatural, launched the investigation a month ago. Members of the public were asked to submit ghostly images for experts to analyse, the best of which were posted on the website www.scienceofhauntings.com. More than 250 pictures were received from all over the world and more than a quarter of a million people voted for what they considered to be the most convincing photos. "The Ghost in the Castle" took first place, winning 39% of the votes.

'Haunted House' Was Once Congressman's Home

2009-03-26T00:03:00.000-05:00

Although he claims to just hate, hate horror flicks, Rep. Chris Murphy is anxious to see "The Haunting in Connecticut" that opens Friday. The spooky house, you see, was once his home. "I lived there from December 1996 until the summer of 1998," Murphy confessed Wednesday. The movie, which stars Virginia Madsen, is based on what the film promoter claims is "a chilling true story" that charts one family's terrifying, real-life encounter with the dark forces of the supernatural. In 1987, a family moved into a long empty house on Meriden Avenue in Southington that had been a funeral home dating back to the 1920s and almost immediately began experiencing "strange sounds, changes in temperature, and the appearance of mysterious figures." With the help of famed demonologists, Ed and Lorraine Warren of Monroe, the family uncovered the terrible secrets lurking in the house and confronted, according to the movie promoter, "the most shocking evil spirits ever seen in an American haunting."US Representative Chris Murphy (D - CT)Fresh out of Williams College, Murphy moved into a second-floor apartment in that very house with two childhood friends - unaware of its haunted past. They'd found the apartment through a newspaper advertisement. "The rent was pretty cheap and it was gorgeous. There were hardwood floors and lots of space," Murphy recalled. The trio thought nothing of the two large stone pillars in the front yard or the massive parking lot out back but soon found out that the building was once a funeral home. "A plumber came by the second day we were there and was looking around and saying 'Wow, I've never been in the haunted house before,'" he said. "We were floored but I don't think any of us were predisposed to believe the story," Murphy said. "None of us looked too hard for the ghosts." Indeed, Murphy said that the second floor had always been an apartment even when the funeral home operated out of the first floor and basement. They also heard from a previous tenant who claimed the ghost story was fiction and made up by the family as a rouse to get out of paying rent they owed.208 Meriden Ave, Southington, CT "We loved that apartment. It was beautiful and the landlord was very nice. I've got nothing but good things to say about 208 Meriden Avenue," Murphy said. "I am a ghost skeptic. And, if I wasn't before living in that house I am now." His housemates - Darren Coyle and Rob Herron, who have since moved out of state - did have one minor scare. They went to New Haven to listen to a talk given by the Warrens and asked them about the Southington house. "The only advice they gave was that we should get out of the house immediately. That's the only thing that spooked us," Murphy said. Murphy has already watched the movie trailer and expects that the film will take great liberties with reality. "The movie departs from the actual story pretty quickly," he said. "The house in the movie looks nothing like the real house." Still, Murphy plans to buy a ticket. "I hate horror movies but I feel an obligation to go see this movie," he said.

USAF Pilot's Death Explained

2009-03-25T00:03:00.001-05:00

Captain William Schaffner's fatal crash into the North Sea on September 8, 1970, made headlines more than 20 years later over claims he was on an secret operation to intercept UFOs. Reports emerged in 1992 that the 28-year-old USAF pilot, stationed at RAF Binbrook in Lincolnshire, disappeared after approaching a conical shape with a bright bluish light off the east coast. The Grimsby Evening Telegraph published a transcript of what, according to an anonymous source, was the final conversation between radar control at Staxton Wold and the pilot, who reportedly described seeing the shape, followed by something "like a large soccer ball ... made of glass". "It's like bobbing up and down and going from side to side slowly," he was quoted as saying, before ditching his aircraft. Searches failed to find any trace of his Lightning plane until the wreckage was discovered weeks later, with no sign of its pilot. But the RAF accident report showed the crash occurred when Captain Schaffner accidentally flew into the sea while on an exercise to practise shadowing low-flying targets at night. Officials decided that while carrying out the difficult task of fixing on his target, the captain failed to monitor how low his own aircraft was and "inadvertently" flew it into the water.When the ejection seat mechanism failed, he drowned during or after making his escape from the aircraft, they concluded. An MoD official wrote of the report: "There is no indication of any 'unidentified aircraft' having been encountered, and no reason to suggest that there is any sort of UFO incident in any way connected with the tragic crash." Another noted that any response from the RAF would be likely to be interpreted by alien enthusiasts who had seized on the suggestion of a mystery as evidence of further "sinister doings". UFO expert Dr David Clarke described the supposed transcript of the pilot's final words, which had fuelled the speculation, as a "clever fake". He said of the person who leaked the story: "I think it was somebody who was in the RAF, reading between the lines, and for reasons known only to himself decided to concoct this cock-and-bull story. "I don't understand what it was supposed to achieve. "All it's done is caused a lot of heartbreak for the surviving sons of Captain Schaffner, who thought they had been lied to." A BBC Inside Out programme in 2002 also debunked the idea of any bizarre encounter being behind the death.

Sceptic Tours Aim To Put A Nail In Coffin Of City's Ghost Myths

2009-03-24T00:03:00.000-05:00

It's not uncommon to walk away from one of Edinburgh's ghost tours with the firm belief that it's all a load of rubbish – but you would not expect the guide to be emphatically agreeing with you. That, though, is the basis for a new venture by a former ghost tour guide turned sceptic. The city's newest tours will aim to debunk all of Edinburgh's classic supernatural myths. Theatre and performance artist Alex Pryce is currently putting plans together for the "Ghosts Busted: Skeptics on the Mile" tours starting in July. The plan has been given a ringing endorsement by celebrity sceptic Dr Chris French, star of shows such as ITV's Haunted Homes, who believes the tours will be a UK first. Mr Pryce, 26, who moved to Juniper Green from Leicester nearly two years ago to establish his Chimera Productions theatre company, refused to reveal which tour company he worked for, but said the stories he was churning out night after night left enough of a bad taste in his mouth to prompt him to try something different. He said: "Some of these tours claim Edinburgh is the most haunted city in Europe, but it doesn't even register as the most haunted in Britain. York has more alleged ghost 'sightings'. "However, regardless of the number of sightings, once you put these things under the microscope, they just don't stand up to scrutiny. "When I was out doing the ghost tours, I was presenting stories as fact, when most of the time they had several interpretations and on many occasions had no historical basis whatsoever."With a bit of research, I was able to discover that the truth was often more exciting than the myths." Mr Pryce e-mailed his ideas to Dr French, head of the University of London's Anomalistic Psychology Research Unit, who suggested that a good way to gauge the popularity of such tours would be to set up an Edinburgh chapter of the growing Skeptics in the Pub phenomenon. Dr French said: "Skeptics in the Pub has been going for about ten years in London, but in the last 18 months it's grown from a hard core of around 30 people to a group of over 200 who meet over a pint to hear regular presentations and discuss alternative explanations for supernatural phenomena. "There are now Skeptics groups springing up all over England, but to the best of my knowledge no one's tried a walking tour before." Dr French was among the 30 people who attended the first Edinburgh Skeptics meeting at Nicol Edwards pub on Niddry Street last week – billed as "Edinburgh's most haunted pub". He believes the popularity of the inaugural meeting is a testament to the potential market for Mr Pryce's tours. However, Mr Pryce hasn't got the city's ghost tour operators rattling in their ghostly chains just yet. Ian McKain, manager of Auld Reekie Tours, said: "We're not worried in the slightest! What we do is intended to be tongue-in-cheek and is supposed to be entertaining. "Alex Pryce has tried to set up tours in the city before with little success – probably because he takes life too seriously."

Woman Sees UFO Shaped Like Blue Banana

2009-03-23T00:03:00.000-05:00

"Sketches of aliens and UFOs spotted by members of the public have been released by the Minsitry of Defence. The drawings include a blue banana-shaped object with dangling human-like arms and legs, seen in London in 1989. Tabloids are very popular in the UK -- Brits love reading articles about UFOs, celebrities, corrupt politicians and the Royal Family. We have Paris Hilton and Britney Spears, the Brits have Amy Winehouse and Lily Allen. It's no surprise that there are more UFO sightings in England than anywhere else in the world. If I read the British tabloids on a daily basis, even a skeptic like me would report seeing a flying saucer piloted by a drunk Amy Winehouse.Anyone who sees a blue banana flying in the sky should wait until the LSD wears off before reporting it to the authorities. Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar, and sometimes a giant banana is just a giant balloon banana. There is no government conspiracy to hide the truth about UFOs. The British government has released all their UFO files to the public, and there is no proof that we are under constant surveillance by extraterrestrials. There's nothing to fear, I don't think a giant blue banana with dangling arms and legs poses much of a threat to humanity.

Pink Elephant Is Caught On Camera

2009-03-22T00:03:00.000-05:00

A pink baby elephant has been caught on camera in Botswana. A wildlife cameraman took pictures of the calf when he spotted it among a herd of about 80 elephants in the Okavango Delta. Experts believe it is probably an albino, which is an extremely rare phenomenon in African elephants. They are unsure of its chances of long-term survival - the blazing African sunlight may cause blindness and skin problems for the calf. Mike Holding, who spotted the baby while filming for a BBC wildlife programme, said: "We only saw it for a couple of minutes as the herd crossed the river. The little pink calf was spotted in amongst an 80-strong elephant herd. A wildlife cameraman took pictures of the calf when he spotted it among a herd of about 80 elephants in the Okavango Delta.Experts believe it is probably an albino, which is an extremely rare phenomenon in African elephants. They are unsure of its chances of long-term survival - the blazing African sunlight may cause blindness and skin problems for the calf. Mike Holding, who spotted the baby while filming for a BBC wildlife programme, said: "We only saw it for a couple of minutes as the herd crossed the river. "This was a really exciting moment for everyone in camp. We knew it was a rare sighting - no-one could believe their eyes." Albino elephants are not usually white, but instead they have more of a reddish-brown or pink hue. While albinism is thought to be fairly common in Asian elephants, it is much less common in the larger African species. Ecologist Dr Mike Chase, who runs conservation charity Elephants Without Borders, said: "I have only come across three references to albino calves, which have occurred in Kruger National Park in South Africa. "This is probably the first documented sighting of an albino elephant in northern Botswana. "We have been studying elephants in the region for nearly 10 years now, and this is the first documented evidence of an albino calf that I have come across." He said that the condition might make it difficult for the calf to survive into adulthood."What happens to these young albino calves remains a mystery," said Dr Chase. "Surviving this very rare phenomenon is very difficult in the harsh African bush. The glaring sun may cause blindness and skin problems." However, he told BBC News that there might be a ray of hope for the pink calf as it already seemed to be learning to adapt to its condition. Dr Chase explained: "Because this elephant calf was sighted in the Okavango Delta, he may have a greater chance of survival. He can seek refuge under the large trees and cake himself in a thick mud, which will protect him from the Sun. "Already the two-to-three-month-old calf seems to be walking in the shade of its mother. "This behaviour suggests it is aware of its susceptibility to the harsh African sun, and adapted a unique behaviour to improve its chances of survival." He added: "I have learned that elephants are highly adaptable, intelligent and masters of survival."

New Stratospheric Bugs Probably Not Alien

2009-03-21T00:03:00.000-05:00

Three new bacterial species found in the upper stratosphere are probably not alien visitors — but they're still quite remarkable. The microbes were collected in a balloon sent by the Indian Space Research Agency to the boundary between Earth's atmosphere and space, and are extremely resistant to ultraviolet radiation. One species was dubbed Janibacter hoylei, a reference to astronomer Fred Hoyle, who believed that Earth's first life came from space. In a press release, the agency noted that the bugs "are not found on Earth" and that "the present study does not conclusively establish the extra-terrestrial origin of the microorganisms" — implying, of course, that they might be alien in origin. Not so fast, said University of Washington astrobiologist John Baross. "It is extremely unlikely that these organisms are extraterrestrial," wrote Baross in an email, "and they are likely to originate from soil on Earth."Bacteria is often found in the stratosphere, and most can be traced to wind-borne dust particles. That the new species were previously unknown means little. Scientists have identified just one percent of all Earthly bacteria. And though the species hadn't been seen, their gene sequences were familiar; they represent a variation on known life, rather than an entirely new form. But they might still be useful, said Baross. For years, researchers have wondered if bacteria might be capable not only of surviving space, but growing in it. If the new bugs turn out to thrive at the edges of Earth's atmosphere — baked by solar radiation and deprived of liquid water, at Antarctic temperatures — researchers can study them to learn how a spacecraft-riding terrestrial microbe contaminate another extreme-but-liveable environment, such as the surface of Mars. Of course, Baross wants to prevent such contamination. But humanity might someday want to live on Mars — and that process could very well start with adding terraforming bacteria to the planet.

Ghostly Image Caught On Security Camera

2009-03-20T00:03:00.000-05:00

A ghostly image captured on a security camera in Perth’s northern suburbs has set tongues wagging. The white translucent shape appears to dance before the camera, and at one stage is looks as though an “arm” reaches into the tray of a parked ute. The unusual shape was captured early Tuesday morning on the security camera of a Ridgewood man, who did not want to be named for fear of being ridiculed. The shape appears intermittently over a four-hour period on the security vision, which was captured by a motion-activated camera in the man’s backyard. “I’m not sure what it is,” the property’s owner said.“I think people should look at the video themselves and make their own mind up.” Inmycommunity inspected the camera and could not see any obvious cause of the vision, such as a spider on a web. Inmycommunity can confirm the footage has not been digitally altered. Further vision is being examined to help shed light on what the image could be. The man said the apparition returned last night at virtually the same time, just after 1am. He said this time it appeared to sit in the ute. Tonight he plans to move his ute out of the shed, remove the clothesline and change the camera angle in an attempt to solve the mystery.

Spooky Image Caught On Birthday Party

2009-03-19T00:03:00.000-05:00

Gambians 'Taken By Witch Doctors'

2009-03-18T00:03:00.000-05:00

Up to 1,000 Gambian villagers have been abducted by "witch doctors" to secret detention centres and forced to drink potions, a human rights group says. Amnesty International said some forced to drink the concoctions developed kidney problems, and two had died. Officials in the police, army and the president's personal protection guard had accompanied the "witch doctors" in the bizarre roundup, said witnesses. Gambia's government was unavailable to comment on the claims. The human rights group asserted that many of those abducted were elderly. The London-based rights group said the witch hunters, said to be from neighbouring Guinea, were invited into Gambia after the death of the president's aunt earlier this year was blamed on witchcraft. Kate Allen, Amnesty's UK director, said hundreds of Gambians have fled to neighbouring Senegal for safety after seeing their villages attacked. "The Gambian government has to put a stop to this campaign, investigate these attacks immediately and bring those responsible to justice," she said. Amnesty spoke to villagers who said they had been held for up to five days and forced to drink unknown substances, which they said caused them to hallucinate and behave erratically.Many said they were then forced to confess to being witches. In some cases, they were also allegedly severely beaten, almost to the point of death. Eyewitnesses and victims told Amnesty the "witch doctors" were from neighbouring Guinea. As well as police, army and national intelligence agents, they were also reportedly joined by "green boys" - personal protection guards of Gambian President Yahya Jammeh. Amnesty said the incidents took place in the Foni Kansala district, near to the president's hometown in Kanilai. In the most recent incident, said to have taken place on 9 March, hundreds of people from Sintet village were allegedly rounded up. One eyewitness told the rights group: "The paramilitary police armed with guns and shovels surrounded our village and threatened the villagers that anyone who tries to escape will be buried six feet under." Three hundred men and women were allegedly randomly identified and forced at gunpoint into waiting buses, which ferried them to Kanilai. Once there, they were stripped and forced to drink dirty herbal water and were bathed with herbs, the eyewitness said. Many of those who drank the concoctions developed instant diarrhoea and vomiting, the eyewitness added.

Couple Accused Of Killing Child While Performing Exorcism

2009-03-17T00:03:00.000-05:00

A Rusk County grand jury handed up the capital murder indictments against Blaine Keith Milam, 19 and Jessica Bain Carson, 18. The couple is accused of trying to rid 13-month-old Amora Carson of demonic possession by beating her to death with a hammer. Amora was Jessica's daughter. Authorities say Carson and Milam called 911 the morning of December 2, 2008, from a home on County Road 2125 near Henderson.They told dispatch the child was not breathing. At the time of the arrest, Rusk County detectives told reporters it was the worst crime scene they had ever seen. Reporters later learned Milam is a registered sex offender and was supposed to be behind bars. The couple remains behind bars on $2 million bonds.

Investigators Busy With UFO Sightings

2009-03-16T00:03:00.000-05:00

From flaming trees to six-sided, hovering aircraft, people in towns like Langhorne and Fairless Hills are seeing things otherworldly — making the area the current ground zero of the UFO world. “I’m spending almost two hours a night on these sightings in Bucks County,” John Ventre of the Pennsylvania chapter of the Mutual UFO Network said last week. “This wave that [started] the second half of last year was incredible.” Over 100 sightings since June more suited for Fox and Mulder than local police departments have attracted the attention of the Discovery and History channels. The Discovery Channel brought its “UFOs Over Earth” series to Bucks County last year and the History Channel’s “UFO Hunters” is now investigating some of the more credible sightings.“There was an incredible spike in 2008,” UFO Hunters producer Kevin Barry said. “We’re still talking to people to see if we have something on our hands.” Unexplainable sightings are not new to Lower Bucks County, Barry said, noting a well-known 1973 UFO sighting along Route 1 in Fairless Hills. “It’s interesting because there is a history there,” Barry said. Sightings last year include a Levittown woman who said she saw probes of light dropped into a tree in her backyard, Ventre said, and a Doylestown man who saw a slow-moving six-sided UFO near his home. The new question — beyond where aliens will appear quickly and vaguely next — is what comes first: the appearance of UFOs or the appearance of UFO television shows. “That’s an undeniable part of some stories. What makes people see these things?” Barry said.

Sasquatch Proof Claimed

2009-03-15T00:03:00.000-05:00

Brian Vike believes he has photographic evidence that sasquatches exist. No, he doesn’t have a photo of a sasquatch, but he does have a photo of a very large footprint. The Houston, B.C.-based UFO researcher has developed a soft spot for the mythical furry creatures, and got an excited call last Sunday from the remote community of Moricetown.“I made the 90-minute drive up there, and I was amazed at what I saw,” Vike told The Province. “I’ve been on some of those turkey runs, when there’s nothing to see. “But there were footprints, 17-and-a-half inches in length, that went on for a long ways. “The stride is three feet six inches from the front of the foot to the back of the heel.” More tellingly for Vike, the snow around the prints was untouched. “There were no tracks around to show that somebody was trying to pull a gag.”Vike, who tracks UFO sightings, got even more excited when he found blood in one of the prints. “I’m sending it off for testing in Saskatchewan and Ohio. We also have a hair sample.” Sasquatches are allegedly ape-like beings that apparently are quite shy, since they don’t seem to interact with humans much. Like the yeti and the ogopogo, sightings are frequently reported, but no conclusive proof of their existence has ever been found. On the other hand, conclusive proof that they do not exist does not exist.

Cow Abducted By UFO?

2009-03-14T00:03:00.000-05:00

A rancher in Las Animas County, Colorado made a shocking and gruesome discovery over the weekend. He found a mutilated cow by the Purgatoire River. The mutilated cow was discovered near the town of Weston, which is about 20 miles west of Trinidad. "First reaction, she's been mutilated," said Mike Duran. Duran's cow was found dead with her udders and reproductive organs missing. "No tracks at all," said Duran. "No blood, no predators," he added. The cow was last seen alive on Friday. Two days later Duran says he found her mutilated by the river. Duran has a theory about what happened. "We have other life out there and I think that's what it is," said Duran. Duran says he thinks aliens abducted the cow, carved it up and then dropped it back by the river. He doesn't have proof, but claims to have seen some strange sights in the Colorado skies above his ranch. "Like a round circle in the air," said Duran. "I've watched them and then they just disappear," he said.Duran has about 40 cattle on this ranch and believe it or not he says this isn't the first time something like this has happened. He says another cow was mutilated on the same field in 1995. "It's just a shock that it's happened again," said Duran. The cattle rancher reported both mutilations to the Las Animas County Sheriff's Office, but so far investigators haven't been able to solve either case. "It's one of those unsolved mysteries I guess," said Duran. Reports of mutilated cattle have been made across the country since the late 1960s. The FBI has investigated these bizarre occurrences and published reports. By the way, Duran has left the cow in the spot where he found it, and says no predators have come to feast on it.

Warwick Castle Dungeon Haunted, Say Builders

2009-03-13T00:03:00.000-05:00

Builders working on Warwick Castle's new dungeon attraction claim to have been spooked by sightings of ghosts. Site manager Paul Woodfield called staff after spotting a figure at the site, which used to be the the castle's armoury. Mr Woodfield said: "When we started clearing the old armoury I started to notice some pretty strange things.Warwick Castle"I kept smelling lavender which, for a building site, was very odd. "Later that day, I saw a tall, slim man wearing some kind of tunic and trousers walking out toward the doorway." The new Warwick dungeon attraction is expected to open next month.

The Curse Of Colonel Sanders May Be Over

2009-03-12T00:03:00.000-05:00

A statue of Kentucky Fried Chicken's Colonel Sanders tossed into Osaka's Dotonbori River some 24 years ago by rowdy Hanshin Tigers fans has been discovered. The Colonel's upper body, minus the hands, was discovered on Tuesday evening by divers checking for unexploded bombs as part of riverside pedestrian walkway improvement works. The figure's legs and right hand were discovered Wednesday morning. The Colonel ended up at the bottom of the river in 1985, when delirious Hanshin Tigers fans celebrating the team's first Central League title in 21 years decided the figure bore a striking resemblance to Tigers slugger Randy Bass and, lifting it off its base in front of the Dotonbori Kentucky Fried Chicken franchise, gave the Colonel a victory toss. The fans put a little too much energy into the toss, and the Colonel Sanders figure went over the railing of the Ebisu Bridge and into the river. Since the statue's victory dive into the Dotonbori, searches for the statue were undertaken, but none with any success. The Hanshin Tigers have not won the Japan Series since 1985, a fact attributed by some to the "Curse of Colonel Sanders." The upper body of the statue was discovered at around 4 p.m. about 200 meters away from where it plunged into the water in 1985.When the figure was being pulled up by the crane on a salvage barge, construction workers could be heard to say, "It looks like a corpse." However, when Tigers fans such as the riverside project foreman saw the statue, they exclaimed, "It's the Colonel!" Passersby also stopped in their tracks to take in the scene. With the media and locals looking on, divers began their search for the lower body at around 8:50 Wednesday morning, and discovered the right hand some minutes later. About 10 minutes after that, the diver's voice burst from a speaker on the salvage barge, saying, "It's the lower body. There's no mistake about it," bringing on a cheer from reporters and workers alike. The statue sections are covered in river mud and badly stained, and the figure's feet, left hand and glasses have yet to be uncovered. The Osaka Municipal Government, which is responsible for the riverside, is holding the statue and will consult with Kentucky Fried Chicken Japan on how to handle it. And what do Hanshin Tigers fans believe the Colonel's discovery portends? "We'll be number one in Japan this year for sure," they say.

UFO Filmed Near Asteroid 2009-DD-45

2009-03-11T00:03:00.000-05:00

Ghost Photographs To Be Submitted For Edinburgh Science Festival

2009-03-10T00:03:00.000-05:00

Hundreds of paranormal pictures are expected to be submitted online where they will be examined to see if any defy explanation. Ghost-debunking psychologist Professor Richard Wiseman, who is heading the experiment, said: "About once a month I get sent a fairly good ghost photo where it's not immediately obvious what's going on. "Often you might see what looks like a face in semi-darkness but its just a trick of the light. The human brain is hard-wired to see faces, for instance in clouds. That's because faces are the most important thing we can see around us. "I'm pretty sceptical, and usually there's a rational explanation, but it could be that someone out there is sitting on something really interesting." A number of ghost pictures can already be seen on the site http://scienceofghosts.wordpress.com One of the strangest appears to be the face of a little girl poking between the legs of a group of friends. It was taken at a house where there have been sightings of a ghostly child aged three or four."Believe it or not it's just a very odd configuration of the light," said Prof Wiseman. "These are always the hardest ones to explain." Another taken at a castle 22 years ago appears to show the transparent figure of a headless ghost in an army coat standing in front of two children playing on a cannon. Prof Wiseman said: "The person who took it is absolutely convinced that it's a photo of the headless ghost who walks around the castle walls. Maybe he's angry with the kids playing around. This one might be a double exposure." A survey of people's ghostly experiences is also being launched at the Edinburgh Science Festival. "Ten per cent of the population have had a ghostly experience, but no-one yet has carried out a survey of what kind of experiences they have," said Prof Wiseman. "We know ghosts tend to be seen as solid figures, which only reveal themselves as ghosts when they do something like walking through a wall."

Ghostbusters Hear Spooky Sigh At Fort

2009-03-09T00:03:00.000-05:00

Paranormal experts claim they heard a “deep sigh” as they were leaving an allegedly haunted room at Felixstowe's Landguard Fort. A team of ghostbusters held an all-night vigil at the fortress at the entrance to Harwich Harbour - using recording equipment to monitor activity in a number of rooms and gun batteries. Writer and historian Richard Bradshaw, who gives ghost tours at the monument and was on duty throughout the night to look after the team, said it had been an enthralling experience. “The aim was to conduct scientific experiments and make proper recordings of the data,” he said. “They had sound recorders, cameras, thermometers and other equipment and before they started made a thorough inspection of the whole fort so they would know if there was anything which might interfere with their work. “It was absolutely fascinating and they were very pleased that they had some activity recorded, although it was a little inconclusive.”Richard Bradshaw at the fortMr Bradshaw said in one room the temperature had suddenly fallen by several degrees in just three minutes at one point during the night, while in one of the casemates a scraping sound was recorded. “The temperature drop was quite unusual although such things can happen in old buildings,” he said. “The scraping noise sounded like something scrunching up plastic. When they returned to the room they found some mouse droppings but no sign of anything else - we said it would have to have been Supermouse to have made such noises!” The most interesting event though was a sigh heard as the team cleared away their equipment in what is known at the fort as Maria's Room after historical re-enactors had a ghostly experience there a few years ago. “They heard a definite sigh, quite loud and very distinct just as if someone was standing there beside them. There was no way of explaining it,” said Mr Bradshaw.

Dr. Franklin Ruehl, Volume 3

2009-03-08T00:03:00.000-06:00

Vampire Found Buried In Venice Mass Grave

2009-03-07T00:04:00.001-06:00

Is it a vampire — or just a dead woman with a brick in her mouth? An Italian archaeologist claims to have found the skeleton of a "vampire" among the bodies of plague victims buried in a mass grave in Venice in 1576, New Scientist magazine reports. Matteo Borrini of the University of Florence says it was common at the time to place objects in the mouths of suspected vampires who had died of the plague.That "prevented" them from chewing on the burial shrouds, which was thought to further spread the disease, he explained at a recent gathering of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences in Denver. Borrini says his excavation shows the earliest "exorcism evidence against vampires," but another archaeologist dismisses the entire notion. "Claiming it as the first vampire is a little ridiculous," Peer Moore-Jansen of Wichita State University tells New Scientist.

Three Video Mysteries

2009-03-07T00:03:00.000-06:00

Villagers Beat ‘Exorcist’ To Death

2009-03-06T00:03:00.000-06:00

An exorcist was beaten to death by villagers of Damdamapur in Katihar district, sources said. Jai Singh, an exorcist, was beaten to death at Gorakhnath temple premises in the village, police inspector Ashok Singh said.“After a villager alleged that the exorcist had killed 101 persons, Jai Singh was taken to Gorakhnath temple and was asked to swear by touching the idol that he had not committed the crime. However, the exorcist refused to do so,” Mr. Singh said. The villagers then got infuriated and beat the exorcist to death.

O.C. Residents Feel Mysterrrrrious Shakingggg!

2009-03-05T00:02:00.000-06:00

As mysteries go, it might not rank up there with "What happened to Amelia Earhart?" or "Did Oswald act alone?" but a strange rattling, shaking, and quaking got people in Orange County all shook up yesterday evening...and we can tell you this much, it wasn't an Elvis sighting either. We are used to earthquakes in the Southland, but this was no quake either! Or a sonic boom. Yikes! What was it? Well, uh, we still don't know.Dave Lopez was on the scene to investigate what made the Earth move yesterday under his feet and everyone's else's -- around 9:15 p.m. Windows shook, nerves were rattled, dogs barked and everyone thought, maybe, we were getting ready for the big one. More than 70 calls were logged into 911 by frightened folks thinking someone was breaking into their homes. Experts still don't know what caused the shake and the shimmy. At least, and this is the good thing, the sky did not come tumbling down.

Two Headed Turtle

2009-03-04T00:03:00.000-06:00

A Chinese man is raising an unusual pet - a two-headed turtle. Mr Jiang, of Chengdu, says his remarkable pet can eat with both heads at the same time. "When the heads are contracted into the shell, you cannot tell it is different to any other turtle," he said. Aquatic expert Jiang Zhicheng said it was very rare to see a turtle with two heads. Reasons for the abnormality could include genetics and environment pollution.

Dr. Franklin Ruehl, Volume 2

2009-03-03T00:03:00.000-06:00

Police Hunt Radioactive Man

2009-03-02T00:03:00.000-06:00

Police are hunting down a man whose medical treatment has made him radioactive. Thomas Marius Leopold, 42, didn't appear at a court hearing in London this week on child pornography charges. His lawyer Jeannie Mackay told the court his treatment for a thyroid problem made him radioactive. "Please warn officers that when he is arrested he might be radioactive," Judge John Price said. "This is not a joke."It's likely Mr Leopold is being treated with radioactive iodine for an overactive thyroid, according to Royal Victoria Infirmary radiation protection adviser Mike Keir, who claimed the risk to police and the public was minimal. "You'd have to spend a lot of time in close contact to have any significant effect," Mr Keir said. "The only thing I would suggest is that they wouldn't have an officer handcuffed to him." Mr Leopold was arrested in July 2006 but the trial was postponed due to his poor health. Ms Mackay said his poor health had caused the latest postponement and said her client had travelled to Ireland. Mr Leopold was "doing everything to make it as difficult as he can to let the trial go ahead," Judge Price said, issuing a warrant for his arrest.

Exorcist Dubs Blackpool House Among Scariest Ever

2009-03-01T00:04:00.000-06:00

A Blackpool family's home has been dubbed one of the most haunted houses in England by a top TV psychic. Apparitions of a crying child, a strict headmistress, banging coming from the loft and strange whisperings are all part of normal life for Sue Dennis. Now the spooky goings-on will be featured in the second series of
LivingTV's Living With The Dead. The show's fearless psychic mediums, Ian Lawman and Johnnie Fiori and paranormal investigator Stephen Griffiths spent two nights at the house in central Blackpool. Ian Lawman said: "I've been doing exorcisms for 10 years and I would put it down as one of England's most haunted properties. "It's the first time in England someone has got electronic voice phenomena in video footage. It was very active." Mum-of-five Sue claims she was aware of spiritual presence in the property when she moved in 22 years ago. She said: "When we arrived I sat down in the dining room and knew I wasn't on my own but I felt safe.Sue Dennis at her house on Central Drive, Blackpool"I've always been open-minded and asked questions all my life. We have to accept it, because they are part of the family." It is thought there are at least four ghosts haunting the property. Ms Dennis, a duty manager at a bookmakers, said: "I got woken up by crying and I could see this child with brown ringletted hair sitting on the stairs. "Another time there was banging in the loft, it was going mental, and sometimes things get moved and suddenly re-appear." Her son Michael, 18, who experiences encounters with a straight-laced headmistress, said: "When I first saw her I was shocked. I just sat there in a frozen position." And Sue's daughter Louise Barklan, 33, had her first paranormal experience when she was 14. She said: "I was in the living room when I became really cold on my right side but fine on the other side. "The next minute I felt a large ball in the middle of my chest and it exploded through my body. My hair felt like it was tingling." Living with the Dead featuring the Blackpool home will be aired on LivingTV on Tuesday March 31.

"If March comes in like a lion, it will go out like a lamb."

2009-03-01T00:03:00.000-06:00

Weather sayings are as colorful as our imagination. While many sayings are based on careful observations and turn out to be accurate, others are merely rhymes or beliefs of the people who came before us. Those people often believed that bad spirits could affect the weather adversely, so they were cautious as to what they did or did not do in certain situations.Those beliefs often included ideas that there should be a balance in weather and life. So, if a month came in bad (like a lion), it should go out good and calm (like a lamb). With March being such a changeable month, in which we can see warm spring-like temperatures or late-season snowstorms, you can understand how this saying might hold true in some instances. We can only hope that if March starts off cold and stormy it will end warm and sunny, but the key word is hope. However, this saying seems be to more of a rhyme rather than a true weather predictor.

Five Elderly People Burnt To Death In Kenyan Witch Hunt

2009-02-28T00:03:00.000-06:00

Five elderly people suspected of practising witchcraft have been burnt to death in western Kenya, police say. "They include four women and a man in their 80s who were accused of having abducted a child," Kisii deputy police Commander Manasseh Musyoka said. The killings occurred at Bomatara Village in Mosocho Division.A resident who declined to be named said the abducted child was found dumped on the roadside. "He was unconscious and when he regained it, he was able to tell the names of his abductors," he said. "That is when a decision was reached in the village to hunt them down. And they were all burnt in their houses." In March last year, 12 people - mainly elderly men and women - were burnt to death in similar circumstances.

Woman Who Lost Both Legs As A Child Is Turned Into A Mermaid

2009-02-27T00:03:00.001-06:00

A woman who lost both her legs as a child has been turned into a mermaid by the Lord of the Rings special effects team so she can go swimming. Nadya Vessey was born with a condition that meant her legs would never develop properly and by the time she was 16 she had had both her legs amputated.Nadya's amazing tail comes complete with a fitted suit, and covered with digitally printed sock with hand-painted mermaid scales. She said: "A prosthetic is a prosthetic, and your body has to be comfortable with it and you have to mentally make it part of yourself." Designer Lee Williams said: "It was absolutely amazing. It's beautiful to watch Nadya swim and to see that dream come true and to be a part of that. I feel quite blessed."

Natural Explanation Found For UFOs

2009-02-26T00:03:00.000-06:00

Mysterious UFO sightings may go hand in hand with a puzzling natural phenomenon known as sprites — flashes high in the atmosphere triggered by thunderstorms. The dancing lights have appeared above most thunderstorms throughout history, but researchers did not start studying them until one accidentally recorded a sighting on camera in 1989. "Lightning from the thunderstorm excites the electric field above, producing a flash of light called a sprite," said Colin Price, a geophysicist at Tel Aviv University in Israel. "We now understand that only a specific type of lightning is the trigger that initiates sprites aloft." Researchers have detected the flashes between 35 and 80 miles (56-129 km) from the ground, far above the 7 to 10 miles (11-16 km) where usual lightning occurs. Sprites can take the form of fast-paced balls of electricity, although previous footage has suggested streaks or tendrils. The cause or function of the flashes remains murky, but Price suggested that they could explain some of the UFO reports which have cropped up over the years.Price and his colleagues have focused on "winter sprites" which appear only in the northern hemisphere's winter months. Their remote-controlled roof-mounted cameras can spot thunderstorms producing sprites far out over the Mediterranean Sea.The appearance of a "sprite" flashing above a distant thunderstorm.Triangulation techniques have also allowed the researchers to calculate the dimensions of the sprites. "The candles in the sprites are up to 15 miles high, with the cluster of candles 45 miles wide — it looks like a huge birthday celebration!" Price said. Sprites may have some effect on the Earth's ozone layer, but researchers suspect that the global impact is small. That might provide some solace for UFO enthusiasts disappointed by human-caused hoaxes in the past. Both jetliner pilots and astronauts have previously reported sightings of sprites, along with a different but equally mysterious phenomenon known as blue jets. Price and his colleagues have focused on "winter sprites" which appear only in the northern hemisphere's winter months. Their remote-controlled roof-mounted cameras can spot thunderstorms producing sprites far out over the Mediterranean Sea. Triangulation techniques have also allowed the researchers to calculate the dimensions of the sprites. "The candles in the sprites are up to 15 miles high, with the cluster of candles 45 miles wide — it looks like a huge birthday celebration!" Price said. Sprites may have some effect on the Earth's ozone layer, but researchers suspect that the global impact is small.

Body Found In Big Black "Not Human"

2009-02-25T00:03:00.000-06:00

A body found in the Big Black River near U.S. 80 late Monday and believed to be human was determined this morning to be that of an unidentified animal. The determination came as an autopsy began at the Mississippi State Crime Lab in Jackson. “It is not human,” Warren County Sheriff Martin Pace said. “I repeat, it is not human.” The body was found by a father and son looking through scopes on rifles on U.S. 80 just east of Warren-Hinds county line at about 3 Monday afternoon. Speculation Monday and early this morning had centered on Benjamin Bearrick, a 55-year-old Warriors Trail resident who has not been seen since Jan. 25, two days after he drove his next-door neighbor and tenant to a hospital with fatal stab wounds.Officers look over the bridge.The death of Shawn Sponholz, 50, 5125 Warriors Trail, was ruled a homicide. Bearrick was questioned and released, but was not found two days later when deputies went to his home for further investigation. On Monday, as many as 20 law enforcement officials were staged on a concrete bridge over Big Black backwater as the remains were taken from the water about 75 yards from the bridge and brought to land. Warren County Coroner Doug Huskey, standing in for the Hinds coroner, said immediately Monday that he could identify nothing from the remains.
The discovery came one day after a widespread manhunt through the Bovina area involving trained dogs and more than 60 deputies and volunteers, some from Louisiana. Searchers on Sunday left empty-handed after searching the Bovina-area countryside with trained dogs from Mississippi and Louisiana, Pace said. The sheriff said Investigator Chris Satcher was at the crime lab this morning when medical examiners determined the body was not human. Family members said Sponholz, an employee of Energy Services International, had lived in Vicksburg for about a year. Bearrick was reported to be unemployed, not married and a long-time resident of Vicksburg.

Giant UFO Seen By Entire Siberian City

2009-02-24T00:03:00.000-06:00

On February 15th of this year at around 6pm the residents of the south eastern Siberian city of Chita (population around 300,000) in Russia witnessed a giant UFO cross their city and then disappear over the horizon. Some managed to photograph the craft with their mobile phones. Shocked pedestrians stopped in the town centre and in parks and pointed to sky declaring the object to be a UFO. Above is a photo of the craft. One witness, a Ms. Anna Kotchetkova , who saw the object after her sons excitedly alerted her to it observed that it looked like ‘nothing on earth’. The UFO was described by witnesses as being completely silent and emitting no lights, its colour was grey-black and looked like a triangle with smoothed edges. Its shape was somewhat irregular and there was said to be some blurriness about the craft.Other witnesses attempted to photograph the UFO but couldn’t due to its speed and difficulty focusing however multiple photos are said to have surfaced. The UFO was estimated to be flying at around 500-1000 meters above land and appeared to be around the size of a Boeing 747. It was estimated to be moving at around 7 metres per second. The incident is being widely reported in the Russian media and immediately after the sighting many members of the press made their way to the Siberian city. UFO research teams are also planning to visit the area to interview witnesses. Many suspect a secret UFO base lies somewhere in the vast spaces of Siberia. This sighting adds weight to this view.

Liquid Water Recently Seen On Mars

2009-02-23T00:03:00.000-06:00

Strange globs seen on the landing strut of the Phoenix Mars lander could be the first proof that modern Mars hosts liquid water, a new paper reports. Images from the robotic craft show what appear to be liquid droplets growing, merging, and dripping on the lander's leg over the course of a Martian month. Phoenix landed near Mars's north pole last May, and several "self portraits" taken to assess the craft's health show material spattered on the legs. This substance is probably saline mud that splashed up as the craft landed, study leader and Phoenix co-investigator Nilton Renno of the University of Michigan told National Geographic News. Salt in the mud then absorbed water vapor from the atmosphere, forming the watery drops, Renno said. The water can stay liquid even in the frigid Martian arctic because it contains a high amount of perchlorates, a salt "with properties like the antifreeze used to melt snow here in Michigan," said Renno, who will present the work next month at the 40th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference. Finding liquid water under these conditions carries possible implications for Mars's habitability, the scientists say. Renno admits that the images showing droplets are not high enough resolution to examine small details. He also notes that instruments on board Phoenix meant to look for liquid water near the surface didn't find anything. But he and his team are convinced that what they are seeing matches the behavior of liquid water. "As it cooled down toward the end of the mission and we're seeing the formation of frost everywhere, the drops almost disappear," he said."This is consistent with [liquid] drops freezing and losing water to the atmosphere as it gets colder." What's more, the images suggest one of the largest globs started to drip down the lander's leg when it got bigger than about 0.4 inch (a centimeter) wide. "Before it drips it becomes dark, and that's consistent with ice melting," said Renno, referring to the fact that ice is more reflective than liquid water. It's certainly possible that liquid water could exist at least fleetingly on the Martian surface, said Nicholas Tosca, a geochemist at Harvard University who was not involved in the study. With perchlorate present, Tosca agrees Mars could support liquid water even down to -94 degrees Fahrenheit (-70 degrees Celsius)—close to the lowest possible temperature around the lander's legs at the time the images were taken. But daily temperatures fluctuate greatly on Mars, so even very salty water would probably go through cycles of freezing and melting. Liquids therefore wouldn't be present for very long periods of time, he said. Study leader Renno thinks that the drops seen on Phoenix were liquid during the warmest part of the day but partially froze at night. Overall, Tosca said, the paper makes a plausible case for liquid water on Mars, "but the nature of the water … doesn't bode well for life." (Read more about Tosca's findings that water on early Mars would have been too toxic for life.) Even if a layer of liquid does persist deep under Mars's surface, it wouldn't be very hospitable, he said. "If you make the case that life could have started on Mars and could be hiding out somewhere," Tosca said, "it's not likely to be in this cold, salty water."

Dr. Franklin Ruehl

2009-02-22T00:03:00.000-06:00

Has The Lost City Of Atlantis Been Found?

2009-02-21T00:03:00.000-06:00

This is the amazing image which could show the fabled sunken city of Atlantis. It shows a perfect rectangle the size of Wales lying on the bed of the Atlantic Ocean nearly 3½ miles down. A host of criss-crossing lines, looking like a map of a vast metropolis, are enclosed by the boundary. They seem too vast and organised to be caused naturally. And last night the possibility of an extraordinary discovery had oceanographers and geophysicists captivated. The site lies 620 miles off the west coast of Africa near the Canary Islands — a location for Atlantis seemingly suggested by the ancient philosopher Plato.He believed it was an island civilisation sunk by an earthquake and floods around 9,700BC — nearly 12,000 years ago. The “grid” showed up on Google Ocean, a Google Earth extension that uses a combination of satellite images and marine surveys. Last night Dr Charles Orser, curator of historical archaeology at New York State University — and one of the world’s leading authorities on Atlantis — called it “fascinating”. He said: “The site is one of the most prominent places for the proposed location of Atlantis, as described by Plato. Even if it turns out to be geographical, this definitely deserves a closer look.” The legend of Atlantis has captured the imagination of scholars for centuries.And in the 1970s it spawned a hit TV series, Man From Atlantis, in which Patrick Duffy played a webbed hero who could live underwater. Situated in an area called the Madeira Abyssal Plane, the grid was spotted by aeronautical engineer Bernie Bamford as he browsed through Google Ocean. Bernie, 38, of Chester, said: “It looks like an aerial map of Milton Keynes. It must be man-made.” Google today claimed the criss-crossing lines were sonar data collected as boats mapped the ocean floor. But the internet giant said “blank spots” within the lines could not be explained. A spokeswoman said: “Bathymetric (or sea floor terrain) data is often collected from boats using sonar to take measurements of the sea floor. “The lines reflect the path of the boat as it gathers the data. “The fact that there are blank spots between each of these lines is a sign of how little we really know about the world’s oceans.”

Strange Creature Spotted Near Falmouth

2009-02-20T00:03:00.000-06:00

A woman has spotted a strange creature roaming the coastal path between Maenporth and Swanpool, near Falmouth, England. It was between 4pm and 5pm when Sam Bradbury left work and decided to go for a walk along the coastal path. Halfway around he spotted something moving in the bushes, but was unprepared for what he says she saw. He said: “I assumed it was a bird or maybe a dog being walked that was rustling the bushes. I stopped as I got nearer, when I realised it was neither. “It was a little bigger than a dog and had the face of a cat with eyes that were glazed over and luminescent like a lion’s at night. It left when it saw me but appeared to only walk on two hind legs much like a kangaroo would and had behind it a bushy tail like a fox.”Walking straight home after his “encounter,” Sam immediately drew a picture of the creature so he could remember every detail, in the hope that somebody else may have seen something similar. The creature sounds a little bit like a large cat, but the walking on it hind legs probably rules that out, although my parents cat will stand on its back legs to beg for food! So my thoughts are that it’s an escaped pet - possible a Raccoon? Raccoons are nothing new here in the UK, in fact one was rescued from a tree in a garden in Dorset recently see - Raccoon rescued from town garden. More stories and sighting of Raccoons have cropped up over recent years, and even a South American Coati was found in a wood in 2004 (see links below). So what’s your thoughts? Have you seen the Falmouth Beast? Not to be confused with the Owlman of Mawnan!

Picture Of 100ft-Long 'Snake' Sparks Fears Of Mythical Monster In Borneo

2009-02-20T00:02:00.000-06:00

According to legend, the Nabau was a terrifying snake more than 100ft in length and with a dragon's head and seven nostrils. But now local villagers living along the Baleh river in Borneo believe the mythical creature has returned after this photo of a gigantic snake swimming along the remote waterways has emerged. The picture, taken by a member of a disaster team monitoring flood regions by helicopter, has sparked a huge debate about whether the photos are genuine or merely the work of photo-editing software. Even the respected New Straits Times newspaper in Kuala Lumpur has asked readers to make up their own minds about the photos. Villagers who claim to have seen the snake say they have given it the name of Nabau, after an ancient sea serpent which can transform itself into the shapes of different animals. People who have studied the photograph of the shape taken from the air have dismissed suggestions that it's a log. As one writer asked: 'A log can't be that winding, can it?' Others have suggested it's a speedboat, but this has been dismissed because of the twisting wake.The most common accusation is that the photo has simply been manipulated on a computer, while others complain that the river is a different colour to the real Baleh rover which is a murky brown. But villagers who insist the snake exists say that photos of the creature being taken in different parts of the river prove it is swimming about. Earlier this month scientists unearthed the fossil of a killer snake that was longer than a bus, as heavy as a small car and which could swallow an animal the size of a cow. The 45ft long monster - named Titanoboa - was so big that it lived on a diet of crocodiles and giant turtles, squeezing them to death and devouring them whole. Weighing an impressive 1.25 tons, it slithered around the tropical forests of South America 60million years ago, just five million years after the last dinosaurs were wiped out. Partial skeletons of the boa constrictor-like prehistoric killer were found in a Colombian coal mine by an international team of fossil hunters.

Canada Opens Up Its UFO Files To The Public

2009-02-19T00:03:00.000-06:00

The Canadian Government has authorized open public access to thousands of federal government documents concerning UFOs. A total of 9500 digitized documents spanning the years 1947 to the early 1980s have been made available through the Library and Archives Canada website.Titled “Canada’s UFOs: The Search for the Unknown” the files include correspondence, reports, memos and procedures, some of which specifically deal with UFOs. The files come from Canada’s National Defense Department, the Department of Transport, the National Research Council, and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

Haunted Hair Salon

2009-02-18T00:03:00.000-06:00

Going to one South Tyneside hairdresser could be a hair-raising experience in more ways than one. Staff and customers at Jazz in South Shields have had their hair stand on end numerous times – not because of a beauty treatment, but because of what staff suspect is a ghost. The spooky goings-on started as soon as salon owner Sheena Carmichael moved into the shop in Frederick Street, Laygate, 11 years ago. She said: "Strange things have always been happening in here, right from the very beginning. We'd often hear footsteps, along with whistling and knocking sounds. "At first, we just thought we were hearing things, but now we definitely think we have a friendly ghost."Originally a sceptic, salon boss Joanne Robson has been the target of many of the invisible visitor's pranks. She said: "One night, I had locked up the shop and decided to go on the sun-bed in the cubicle. I heard a loud crash, so I got up and realised a tub of cream had been flung over from the beauty room. "Another time, towels were spinning round the dryer, but it wasn't switched on, and just last Friday, I felt someone tickling my neck, but nobody was there. "I've run out of the shop on a few occasions now. I think maybe I was targeted more than the others because I was a sceptic, but I'm not any more." Customers have been told to go away by a gruff man's voice, some have seen what they described as "old fashioned people" standing in the upstairs window, and others have heard conversations in empty cubicles.Hairdressers Michelle Langley, Sheena Carmichael, and Joanne Robson.One of the most recent appearances of the ghost was on Christmas Eve, when Sheena went into the staff room at the back of the salon and saw a cloud-like white mass hovering. She said: "It was so strange, it's hard to describe. It was like a solid cloud just floating there. By the time I'd gone to get the others and returned, it was gone, and all that was left was a chemical smell, but it was certainly none of our products." Legend has it that when the building was being used as a Unionist club back in the 1950s, a barman died after falling down the cellar's stairs, which would have been in Mrs Carmichael's shop. Staff believe the ghost of the man could be responsible for the unexplained antics.

Ghostbusters Find 'Unexplained Things' At 'Haunted' Caesers Nightclub

2009-02-18T00:02:00.000-06:00

There was something strange in the Streatham neighbourhood this Friday the 13th as paranormal investigators visited Caesars nightclub. Ghastly screams, unidentified footsteps along empty corridors, unexplained dark shapes moving across rooms, doors opening on their own, and the appearance of a ghostly woman. All seem the perfect recipe for a haunted house horror B-movie. But these have all been reported by staff working at Caesars nightclub – and have led many, including owner Fred Batt, to believe the former theatre is haunted. Spooks who allegedly call it home are said to include Ruth Ellis – the last woman to be hung in Britain who used to work in the club in 1948 – and gangsters the Kray twins who once frequented the club. Sightings of their ghostly forms were enough to bring paranormal investigators from TV show Most Haunted to film a programme at the venue in 2003. Following in their footsteps on Friday night were teams of ghostbusters from throughout the UK, invited by Mr Batt to finally lay the ghost to rest as to whether the place is haunted before its demolition. Forever the sceptic, I could not turn down the chance to go with them. On my arrival I find groups of people who have paid to explore the club with the spirit hunters already excitedly hanging around outside.Some are already convinced they will see something, others who have never been ghosthunting before, simply hopeful. “I’m not sure what to believe, but part of me really wants to see something,” says David Patching, from Paddington. One man who has certainly already seen something is our psychic medium for the evening, Dr Marty Cia. He tells me he has a natural affinity with the spirit world – so much so that after five minutes he says he has already had contact with a ghost named Ruth – who he has now been told could be Ruth Ellis. I ask him if his hunch is because he has already done some research on the place. He assures me this is not the case. Dr Cia works full time as a medium, carrying out tours of haunted sites and helping people communicate with spirits. He has known about his “ability” since he was a child. “I used to play with children in my garden. I never knew where they came from until I found out our house was built on the site of a children’s hospital that was bombed in the war,” he explains. For the next few hours we explore the building in groups. We try out a relatively unsucessful ouija board – but I witness a group of four people who are convinced the glass they are touching is being spun in circles by the paranormal.The paranormal investigators in Streatham.Through a series of questions they ascertain the spirit is of a 23-year-old former barmaid called Natalie Smith who was strangled to death inside the club. Later we are all left in a pitch black room and told to call out to any ghosts to communicate with us. Dissapointingly none respond. Next comes the turn of technology. The ghostbusters bring out a range of devices to test for the paranormal. A temperature guage is used in one room to show how the temperature drops in a room as Dr Cia communicates with Ruth Ellis. Rather scarily it is all too much for one guest who faints shortly after she smells rosewater perfume - the same scent she picked up while practicing a ouija board earlier. Cameras are also used to take photos and these are looked at on computers to show unexplained circles on the images which are called Orbs – believed to be ghosts. The investigators are clearly buoyed by their findings and seem in no doubt that the club is haunted. But as I leave the club in the small hours while the investigation still in full swing, I feel a little how Louis Theroux must feel after one of his documentaries. But as Mr Batt – himself now Most Haunted’s Demonologist and Master of the Black Arts - told me earlier: “There are many unexplained things in this life. It is up to each of us to believe what we want to believe - and are comfortable believing.”

UFO Spotted Over Tucson Arizona

2009-02-17T00:03:00.002-06:00

A number of witnesses have come forward to describe remarkable sighting of a UFO in the vicinity of the city of Tucson, Arizona. The UFO is being described as classic saucer shaped with red glowing lights. The craft was spotted on the evening of 11 February 2009. One witness was sitting and watching television with her husband, a former Airman, and her daughter when she noticed a UFO through a large glass sliding door that looks out towards the Tucson Mountains behind her backyard. The witness described the object as disc shaped with non-strobing red lights at its front and rear. She estimated it was moving south to north at an altitude of about 150m. The object then ‘exploded’ in a large blaze of bright white light and sped away horizontal to the earth at an incredible speed.At this point she alerted her husband. Soon afterwards helicopters were seen moving in the direction of the craft. The witness’s husband, who had served in the Air Force, thought the helicopters might have been Blackhawks. Another witness was driving a truck just outside of Tucson when he saw pretty much the same thing. He described the explosion and subsequent fantastic speed as ‘unbelievable, probably alien’. Local police also noted that a few calls had been taken regarding the incident. Many are wondering whether the military is testing secret aircraft in Arizona or do aliens simply enjoy its wide open spaces. At least one of the witnesses seems to think the latter.

'Missing Girl' Who Sparked Police Hunt Could Be A Ghost

2009-02-16T00:03:00.001-06:00

A police search operation was launched after a motorist spotted a little girl walking alone in Chester city centre. John Teece-Millington was driving along St Martin's Way at 12.30am on Monday, February 2, when he saw the young girl walking along the pavement clutching a teddy bear. He was so concerned for her welfare that he alerted police and seven patrols were deployed around the city. No trace of the girl was found and Mr Teece-Millington now believes he saw a ghost. "I was stationary for a couple of minutes waiting for the lights to change when I spotted a small girl, aged roughly about seven years old with shoulder length hair, a full fringe and large dark rimmed glasses," he said. "She was wearing a white blouse, short pleated skirt but no coat, socks or shoes, and was clutching a teddy bear."She was slowly walking along the road towards the traffic lights. I rolled the window down and slowed up to her to make sure she was okay but she carried on walking without a care in the world. "I was on my way home and was five minutes away from the nearest garage when I spotted a policeman. I reported seeing the little girl as I thought it was strange for her to be out alone at that time and it was a freezing night." Police spokesman, Shelley Williams said a search was launched at 12.30am and police even contacted taxi drivers to be aware of a young girl possibly wandering the streets alone. The search was suspended after no-one was found and no-one was reported missing. Mr Teece-Millington, a caretaker at Stanley Palace and a member of Cheshire Paranormal, is appealing for anyone else to come forward who may have seen the girl.

Cat Filled Haunted Hotel Still On The Market

2009-02-15T00:04:00.000-06:00

For sale: The longest continually operated hotel west of the Mississippi. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Cats and ghosts included. The Historic Anderson House Bed and Breakfast is on the market. Owners Michael and Teresa Smith recently enlisted the help of a Minneapolis real estate firm in their efforts to sell a 150-year-old downtown Wabasha landmark. The Anderson House’s storied life prominently features its famed housecats, as well as occasional dashes of the paranormal. Wabasha residents hope that rich history continues when new owners take over. The Anderson House first became part of Wabasha four years before Abraham Lincoln was elected president. It was built by B.F. Hurd in 1856 and duly dubbed the Hurd House through much of its early existence. His son-in-law expanded the then-hotel when he took over ownership in 1885, adding the west wing and third story. He also “modernized” the building by bringing in electricity and installing “modern bathrooms,” Theresa said. “Whatever modern bathrooms were back then,” she added with a laugh. The Anderson family took over in 1909, and the building assumed its now widely known name. A pair of their descendent, John Hall and his mother, Jeanne, started the House’s famous policy of keeping housecats on site to spend the night with guests.Five cats still live at the bed and breakfast, and guests can request one spend a night in their room to serve as “bed warmers.” The cats stay in their special cat room until “ordered,” at which time staff delivers the feline — along with its litterbox, food, water and toys. Many people come to Anderson House simply for the cats, Theresa said. “It’s a huge, huge thing,” she said. Cats aren’t the only non-human residents of the Anderson House, she said. The building is featured in at least one book chronicling haunted Minnesota sites. The Smiths, who took ownership in 2004, have hosted three paranormal investigations. One didn’t show any abnormal activity, but the two others did. “It depends on whether you believe or not,” she said. “I do believe there are spirits here. I think they’re all at peace.” The business’s impact on the community is indisputable, city leaders said. The Anderson House draws many visitors to Wabasha each year and anchors the town’s downtown, said Chris Fancher, director of the Wabasha-Kellogg Chamber of Commerce. “It’s been a long-standing landmark in Wabasha,” he said. “People come here just to eat and stay there.”

New Artificial DNA Points To Alien Life

2009-02-15T00:03:00.000-06:00

A strange, new genetic code a lot like that found in all terrestrial life is sitting in a beaker full of oily water in a laboratory in Florida, a scientist said today, calling it the first example of an artificial chemical system that is capable of Darwinian evolution. The system is made of the four molecules that are the basic building blocks of our DNA along with eight synthetic modifications of them, said biochemist Steven A. Benner of the Foundation for Applied Molecular Evolution in Gainesville. The main difference between the synthetic molecules and those that make up conventional DNA is that Benner's molecules cannot make copies of themselves, although that is just "a couple of years" away, he said. The wild biochemistry finding, described to a small group of reporters today at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, offers ideas about new types of life for scientists to look for beyond our planet, or even possibly hidden on our planet. "Unless it happens to shoot at you with a ray gun, the life that you encounter off of Earth will not necessarily have same biochemistry as us," Benner said. And the step from Benner's system to something that could be called artificial life is still large. "There is not enough information in them to build organisms," Benner said. For some 20 years, Benner's labs have been involved in trying to make artificial life or things approximating it, with similar genetic and inheritance properties to life on Earth. (Previously, Benner worked at the University of Florida.)He and his colleagues have focused in part on expanding the DNA alphabet to develop an "Artificially Expanded Genetic Information System," which now has its own supporting molecular biology. The building blocks of DNA are four chemicals called nucleotides that are referred to as A, C, T and G, for short. The nucleotides pair up and bond in predictable ways to form the double helix structure of DNA. Benner's new nucleotides, which he and his colleagues have named Z, P, V, J, Iso-C, Iso-G, X and K, are reshufflings of the constituents of those molecules found in our DNA. The evolution in this system happens when the 12-letter genetic code makes copying mistakes and subsequent sequences have properties that make them more liable to get copied. Those sequences would survive in greater numbers than the original sequence. Benner's synthetic approach was conceptualized using "ball and stick plastic model chemistry," he said, the technique used by James Watson and Francis Crick to arrive at the structure of the DNA molecule in 1953. The human genome's DNA includes 3 billion base pairs. Some of the molecules synthesized in Benner's lab are 81 base pairs long — relatively short. The molecules are "fed" and grow via a process called the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) that allows the molecules to make copies of themselves. Once the replication of the molecules in Benner's system is self-catalyzed, without PCR, the process is self-sustaining. Benner claims, "then it's artificial life." The research resulted from a NASA-funded project to try to understand what life might look like beyond Earth. Such life might live in water, but it could also live in liquid nitrogen or methane (as speculated for Saturn's moon Titan) and in environments with extremely high or low acidity.The results are published in a technical book, "Life, the Universe and the Scientific Method," of which Benner has made about 100 copies to distribute to his colleagues. "One of the ways scientists try to understand life as a universal concept ... is you try to make life on your own in the lab," Benner said. "We try to put together chemicals that do that." Any potential life forms made from such molecules would be "so alien in terms of their biochemistry that they will not able to eat you," Benner said. NASA has been involved in searching for extra-terrestrial life along numerous avenues for decades, including the Viking mission to Mars in the 1970s and its recent missions to the red planet which have searched for signs of habitability there. NASA also funds an Astrobiology Institute, which partners with hundreds of researchers world-wide who study of the origins, evolution, distribution and future of life in the universe. The trick to searching for alien life is how to look for it, said Paul Davies of Arizona State University, who also spoke with reporters here today. "All of the techniques which microbiologists use to [look for alien life] are customized to life as we know it," Davies said. "It's no surprise that microbiologists haven't come across micro-organisms that seem to have relatively different biochemistry." In the future, more scientists could "talk with Steve Benner," Davies said, "to come up with perfectly good molecules that life could use — but doesn't."